Reclaim the digital world
by Chiaki Konaka
Summary: Rewrite of the second arc of Xros Wars. With the Code Crowns stolen and the Digital World in the hands of the Bugra Army, what will Xros Heart to reclaim the digital world as theirs? Read & review please!
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks to Tripp_Nessa and Shizuku_Tsukishama749 for betareading this once poorly written chapter! Girls, you both totally and epically rock! I love you two! ^_^ To the readers, if you read this please leave a review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated but please try to be nice about it. Every review means something to me. Thank you!**

Chapter One: Back to the Digital World

The real-world battle with Tactimon was finally over. Taiki, Akari and Zenjiro returned to the spot where Taiki would be transported to the Digital World.

"Kudou Taiki, it seems your friends will be able to go to the Digital World with you, after all," Omegamon informed him, smiling a bit. The boy's eyes widened, and Akari and Zenjiro both beamed, their eyes lighting up instantly.

"That's great!" Akari cheered, the happiness she felt obvious in her voice.

Taiki, on the other hand, grinned softly, curiously. "Hey, Xros Heart sticking together makes me just as happy as the next guy, but why the sudden change, Omegamon?"

The Digimon sighed lightly. "Because we can't manage without all of you. You should be aware that the Digital World you left has changed drastically. Since the Bugra Army got its hands on the Code Crowns, my world has become..." He found it difficult to continue, however, and averted his eyes.

Taiki clenched his fists, Akari tensed slightly and Zenjiro shut his eyes, his head turned to the side.

"Akari and Zenjiro," Omegamon went on after a pressing moment, "will most likely receive partners and X-Loaders of their own as well. But the rest can wait for now. Is everyone ready to go?"

Akari, excited about their potential partners, was about to ask about them, but Taiki touched her shoulder. She looked at him, and she wasn't at all startled to find his expression filled with concern.

"I know you want to hear about your partners, but we can't waste any more time here. The Digital World, Xros Heart—everyone we love there is in danger!"

Akari gave him a soft smile and nodded, knowing how much he had come to care for his friends in the Digital World. They stood back and waited as Omegamon opened the portal to their world-away-from-world.

"I hope Ballistamon and the others are okay!" Shoutmon expressed worriedly as they passed through the dimensional barrier.

"Don't worry! They're tough! I'm sure they'll all protect each other!" Akari reassured, just hoping she was right.

A second later, they were gently deposited on their feet in the Digital World. Zenjiro looked around, bemused and blinking. This place looked like a flowery garden, not the living Hell they'd expected!

"I think you might want to get your eyes checked, Omega—" Zenjiro wise-cracked, but was cut off by a cry from Lilymon.

"Shoutmon, isn't she from your village?" Taiki queried, and his partner nodded in confirmation. Lilymon skidded to a stop in front of them, and before they could protest, she poured baskets of flowers on the three children.

"Ah...! W-what's this?" Akari asked. Lilymon quickly shushed her.

"You have to pretend to be Digimon! If they discover you here, there won't be anything I can do! Dragon Land isn't safe!" she told urgently, and Taiki frowned.

"Dragon Land? But the Digital World consists of Zones…?" he questioned confusedly, and Lilymon's face fell.

"The Zones were destroyed and reformatted, then divided into seven Kingdoms. This is Dragon Land, ruled by Dorbickmon. Trust me, you don't want to get in a fight with him: even the rebels of Blue Flare were tossed aside!" she relayed hopelessly, and the three teens gasped in shock.

"Kiriha was...defeated?" Taiki uttered, astounded. Zenjiro gulped slightly.

"Nene-san! What about Nene-san? Is she okay?" Taiki's rival asked, so worriedly that Akari had to remind herself of the seriousness of the situation to keep from rolling her eyes. Lilymon opened her mouth to respond, but a plea for help pierced the air.

"Leave me alone! I won't join you!"

They bent down to avoid being seen, and just when a disagreeable Taiki was about to venture outward, Akari pulled him back down.

"Let's be smart about this and watch a minute! Things have changed, remember? It might not be what it seems!" Akari counseled, and he hesitated an instant prior to giving in.

"Who is that Digimon?" Zenjiro whispered to his two friends, indicating the tiny dragon being pursued by a pack of much bigger, much scarier-looking Digimon. It was Lilymon who answered.

"His name is Dracomon," the female Digimon churned out. The Devidramon barraged Dracomon with attacks, throwing him several feet backward. Lilymon's light-yellow cheeks turned a sickly shade of green. "He's insane if he thinks he stands a chance against the Devidramon..."

Taiki narrowed his eyes and set his jaw. Shoutmon was about to speak, but Akari stopped him by covering his mouth. He groaned, annoyed, but returned to watching the scene.

Dracomon was blasted off his feet once more. The leader of his hunters smirked.

"This land belongs to us! Just surrender already! Or would you rather we destroyed you?" The enemy's smirk widened, and he added, "Besides, the fighting rebels like Blue Flare are the ones who made it possible for us to steal the Code Crowns!"

At these words, Taiki clenched his fists and glowered down at his feet. He'd let the Digimon down. He'd promised to change their world for the better, but he he'd failed. He had let the Bugra Army take their most precious treasures...

"Taiki..." Akari whispered cautiously, watched him with anxious eyes.

"Taiki, this isn't your fault," Shoutmon said firmly, his expression an unfamiliar one of self-loathing. "If anything…it's ours. I failed you times-five. We couldn't defeat the enemy. If we could have just fought back…then we'd still have the Code Crowns…" The red dragon-Digimon sighed, and Taiki smiled in kneeling down beside him.

"Let's share the blame, okay? Besides, we have to make amends for our mistakes. We didn't come back to the Digital World to hide and pretend we're something we're not. Xros Heart never gives up! This situation is different, yes, but our spirits aren't! We have to get the Code Crowns back! We have to find our friends, Kiriha, Nene and the Digimon! We have to fight to make a better Digital World for everyone!" Taiki rallied determinedly, looking to Akari and Zenjiro.

"Well, first we have to help Dracomon," Zenjiro reasoned. "Despite everything that's happened, he's continued to defend himself against the Bugra Army because he's kept the faith that things will be better." His gaze shifted to Taiki, a kind smile along with it. "We can't turn our backs on him, can we?"

Taiki stared at Zenjiro, stunned, before beaming. He'd noticed how much the boy had matured since they'd first come to the Digital World, and he had to admit he was really proud of him. A bright light flashed suddenly, and when it faded a green X-Loader rested in Zenjiro's hand. Taiki and Akari's eyes widened in shock.

"An X-Loader...! We can use this to help Dracomon!" the male brunette shouted, only to be stopped in his tracks by a pain-ridden yell from Dracomon. The three Digidestineds' heartbeats quickened, and Zenjiro couldn't hold himself back any longer.

"Dracomon! Hang on!" the boy cried, running toward the Digimon with all his might.

"Zenjiro!" Taiki, Akari and Shoutmon cried, rushing after him. Lilymon sighed, flying off in the opposite direction; it had been worth a shot, but deep down she'd known trying to get them to listen to her wouldn't work.

While Shoutmon acted as a distraction against the assailants, Zenjiro dropped to his knees beside the fallen dragon-Digimon.

"Dracomon, can you hear me? I know you're hurt, but you need to get inside this X-Loader! It'll help you heal!" Zenjiro intoned softly and somewhat shakily.

"I can hear you... I'll do as you ask…but first we must…make our escape... I know a way... Can your friend…divert the Devidramons' attention...for just a few more seconds…?" Dracomon requested, coughing weakly.

Taiki thought for a moment and flicked his goggles when an idea struck him. Looking up, he gasped as Shoutmon was sent flying back. The gogglehead sprinted forward.

"Shoutmon, are you okay?" Taiki asked anxiously. The Digimon managed a nod, and his partner leaned down a little to whisper, "Aim for the ground beside Devidramon. It'll distract him long enough for us to find the way out of here."

Shoutmon looked at his partner and, seeing the determination in his eyes, allowed the teen to help him to his feet. Jumping forward once Taiki was well out of the line of fire, he bombarded the ground next to the Devidramon with his most powerful attack. It emitted a blinding light, which let Dracomon lead his rescuers to his underground escape route.

When the glow vanished, the three children and two Digimon were nowhere to be seen.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: _Everyone, thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews! I am a fairly new writer, so it is amazingly encouraging to know people like my work! I would also like to thank **ShadowGoddessHikari** for pointing out a name mix-up with one of the Generals. Hope you like this chapter as much as the last! Thanks to **Shizuku_Tsukishama749** and **Tripp_Nessa** for betareading this chapter.

**Chapter Two: Reunion with Kiriha**

Shoutmon and Dracomon healing in the two X-Loaders, the three Digidestined were finally able to breathe once safely inside their underground tunnel.

Taiki sighed heavily, dropping his head into his hands.

"Things here are so much worse than we imagined, guys. _Kiriha_ was defeated, and he's always been so _strong_!" He closed his eyes tightly, clenching his fists, before whirling around and punching the wall. "It's all our fault! We let all of them down...!"

Akari frowned and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. She opened her mouth to speak, but a light shuffling was heard farther down the hallway of the dark cave. All three immediately went on the defensive, but there was no need.

"_Kiriha_!" Taiki cried, rushing toward the injured Blue Flare General, the others following close behind.

"He really looks bad…" Akari observed worriedly as Kiriha struggled to open his eyes. Taiki slowly knelt down in front of him.

"Taiki...?" Kiriha managed, and the genius strategist gave a silent, serious nod.

"Yeah, Kiriha. It's me. Are you all right?" the gogglehead asked softly, and it was only then that Kiriha realized his situation. Immediately he made to sit up, but winced slightly and turned away.

"I'm not in immediate danger. I don't require your help," Kiriha asserted stubbornly, and Akari huffed, annoyed.

"Would you cut the act and take help when it's offered? Even _you _can't deny that we need all we can get right now," Akari reamed bluntly, and Kiriha glared at her before lowering his personal barriers just enough to lean against the wall.

"Are you _crazy_? Why did you come back? There's nothing left in this world anymore! It's been turned upside down, and there's no going back!" Kiriha grumbled, annoyed at nothing in particular, and rested his cheek against the wall. Taiki frowned a little, not surprised at Kiriha's behavior…but at the fact that he seemed to be accepting defeat!

"Because we can't let them win!" Taiki stated, his voice a lot more confident than he actually felt, determined or not. "This is already looking pretty impossible, I know, but we can't just give up and let the Bugra Army do what they want with this place! There are Digimon out there who still believe that things will get better someday, Kiriha, and it's because of them that I _can't_ surrender! _They're_ the reason I—_we_—came back! Our only mistake was letting the Code Crowns fall into enemy hands, and for that we have to make amends. Anyone can throw up their hands and give in, but that won't be me."

Beside him, Akari beamed softly. It was so typical of Taiki to stick by those who couldn't defend themselves. Zenjiro grinned down at his green X-Loader, and despite himself, Kiriha chanced the smallest of smiles.

"I don't wish to surrender either, but I have no choice. Greymon, MailBirdramon, and I were separated in our last battle. I don't know where they are…" Kiriha admitted, sighing tiredly. Zenjiro frowned for a moment, thinking before speaking up.

"What about Nene-san? Is she with you?" At this, Akari groaned and Taiki rolled his eyes (though both were secretly glad to have the mood lightened). Kiriha shook his head.

"We were separated, too. You must understand: the Bugra Army is exceptionally strong now. No matter what approach we took, each one failed." Unintentionally proving his point he frowned, remembering just how badly that battle had gone.

"The Code Crowns are probably what are making them so powerful. There has to be a way to get them back…!" Taiki mused, flicking his goggles suddenly. "Kiriha, do you know where they're being kept?"

"DarkKnightmon is in possession of them, but I haven't been able to garner any intelligence as to their exact locations." He narrowed his eyes questioningly. "How is that relevant?" They should be focusing on how to beat the Bugra Army, not retrieving the Code Crowns…

Taiki proffered a tiny smile, glancing at his best friends before bouncing back to the blond.

"The only reason they were able to take over the Digital World was _because_ of the Code Crowns," Taiki explained. "If we could just get them back, we could make things right again. I want finding DarkKnightmon to be our top priority, and meeting up with Nene couldn't hurt either."

For a moment Kiriha stared openly at the brunette, astounded, but nodded nonetheless. Zenjiro clenched a fist determinedly and nodded as well. Akari, however, wasn't so sure.

"Shouldn't we look for the rest of Xros Heart first? Cutemon, Ballistamon, Dorulumon, and the others probably need our help, too," she reasoned, gazing at Taiki.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard. Dorbickmon had them all captured. Their execution will take place tomorrow," Kiriha informed them casually.

But this was where Zenjiro drew the line.

"How can you be so _calm_? Our friends could _die_! Did you even _try_ to help them?" Zenjiro demanded, the whole situation finally getting to him. Kiriha glared.

"Of course we did! Nene went, and I followed! But what does that matter when we don't stand a chance against the Death Generals if they have the Code Crowns?" Kiriha wanted to know, and Taiki felt anger spur through his veins.

"We'll save them! Somehow, someway, we will!" he spouted, his tone staunchly unyielding. He turned to Kiriha, who was watching him wonderingly. "Don't worry. We'll find your partners, too."

Sometimes the Blue Flare General marveled at the boy's ability to forever remain so optimistic; he didn't know whether he envied it or was simply annoyed by it.

Kiriha glanced up, only for his eyes to widen as Taiki and Zenjiro released Shoutmon and Dracomon from their X-Loaders.

"Zenjiro...is a General, too…?" Kiriha inquired, shocked. Akari beamed brightly.

"Omegamon said I'll be one, too! I just haven't found my partner yet!"

Shoutmon flopped on the ground, crossing his arms and hanging his head. He hummed sadly.

"I should have...I should have been there for our friends. As future King, it's my duty to make sure no one is oppressed…" The Digimon had never sounded more miserable, and Taiki laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, smiling minutely and shaking his head.

"It'll be fine, Shoutmon. We have Dracomon and Zenjiro as part of the team now, and if we can find Akari's partner and rescue Xros Heart, we'll be back on track! We might have fallen a step behind in this race to the finish, but we'll catch up! Don't you worry! I'll _never_ turn my back on you!"

Zenjiro, meanwhile, was talking softly with Dracomon. Kiriha was half-listening to both of them, half-wondering where Nene was and hoping she hadn't caused more trouble than this fight was worth.

In the end, Shoutmon was reassured and Dracomon had mostly healed. And even though they knew there was still a long way to go from here, at least for now…things were looking up.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: _Once again, everyone, thank you so much for your reviews! Sorry I took so long to update! I'm just glad you like my writing enough to review it!

**Digimonfan4ever101**: There _might_ be some Akaiki moments later on, but I can't promise, if only because I'm simply not a romance writer…! XP Sorry!

Thanks to **Tripp_Nessa **and **Shizuku_Tsukishama749 **for betareading this chapter for me.

**Chapter Three: Xros Heart Rescue**

They'd been hiding out in the muggy cave like a bunch of criminals since sunset the day before (it was nearing the later hours of the morning now), and not one of them had gotten any rest. A frustrated Taiki had begun pacing their length of the cave hours ago and hadn't stopped since. Taiki was feeling particularly responsible. . They hadn't had a chance to eat anything yet, and it was making everyone a lot more exhausted than normal. At least the cave was well lit, the group of Generals and their friends having stayed near the entrance so it wouldn't get too dark.

"Contemplating our folly?" a cool voice guessed, and Taiki finally halted, turning to face a strangely blank-faced Kiriha. The Xros Heart General sighed lightly, leaning back against the wall at Kiriha's side and glaring sadly down at his partially-closed fists. Akari and Zenjiro were sitting on large rocks, nearby.

"It's cost us more than I ever thought possible. We earned all 108 Code Crowns, were about to make the Digital World free and vibrant and beautiful…" he clenched his fists completely now, "…and then we let everyone down." His gaze was fiery as he lifted his head to lock eyes with the blond. "Intentionally or not, we abandoned our people once already. I won't turn my back on them a second time." Taiki wasn't able to hold back the stress and guilt in his heart while he spoke this time. He always tried so hard to be the strong inspiration for everyone, but even he was only Human, and there were still times when his emotions got the better of him.

Having said his piece, he looked toward the bright opening of the cave. Kiriha followed his gaze without a word, genuinely considering what his fellow General had said. It was ironic that on such a beautiful day there was such a strong aura of sadness amongst the group. After a long, hesitant moment, he reached out to grasp Taiki's arm.

"Punishing yourself for what's already happened won't mend a thing. We must devise a plan to rescue the remaining members of your team as quickly as possible. With any luck at all, Greymon and MailBirdramon will be with them."

Taiki stared at his companion in surprise. Had he actually just tried to make him feel better? "What?" The blond felt his cheeks flush at the sudden attention and averted his gaze. "I was just saying that because we need all the power we can get to win this battle." Kiriha coughed and crossed his arms, frustration lining his face. Taiki smiled and nodded, not believing his attempt to save face in the slightest.

"You're right. Thank you." He stood, keeping a firm hold on the hand on his arm. "Now, are you feeling up to leading us, Blue Flare General?"

The other boy had barely nodded before he found himself on his feet, and soon the whole gang was making its way toward the execution. Taiki supported Kiriha all through, one of the injured boy's arms thrown across his shoulders as the brunette steadied him about the waist.

Just behind them, Dracomon offered readily, "I can be a distraction for you guys!" At his side, Zenjiro appeared hesitant and looked to Taiki.

"It'll be okay," the Xros Heart General assured, smiling encouragingly. His friend-rival nodded half-heartedly and turned his troubled gaze toward the ground.

Several minutes more, and they arrived at the execution site. A platform of smooth, black rock stood erect in the middle of the desert, to its side a massive holding cell. This was where the Digimon would be. Their friends were currently locked up in a metal cage, which was sitting on the ground in the middle of a forest clearing. The bars were sparking, as though with some kind of strange energy. Taiki got the feeling that it was suppressing their Digimon's powers, because why else wouldn't they have tried to break out of such an easily destroyable prison by now? Then again, there were tons of Dorbickmon's guards standing around, so that could have had something to do with it as well.

They moved closer to the temporary prison, and when Kiriha looked up, he couldn't believe his eyes. Greymon and MailBirdramon! They were there, too! Immediately he jumped up to charge headlong into the fray, and he would have succeeded if not for Taiki's quick reflexes.

"Hey, now is not the time for a top-rank General to lose his head!" Not to say that Taiki ever _expected_ Kiriha to react so demonstratively in the first place, though he knew the boy cared about his partners... "Rushing in will only make things worse for them!"

The blond struggled with himself for a moment prior to giving in. Akari, who was posing as lookout farther ahead, suddenly gave the signal to move in, and both adolescents approached the confinement area.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Dorbickmon snarled, glaring harshly in recognizing Taiki. Neither boy batted an eyelash.

"We're here to bust our friends out, and we're not leaving without them!"

The obstructing Digimon simply laughed mockingly, but the response from those inside was enough to drown him out.

"_Taiki,_ _kyu_! We knew you'd come!" Cutemon cheered joyously, waving at him from inside the cage.

"So, General, you finally made it back!" Dorulumon greeted, grinning at them slightly. While it was a small gesture, Taiki appreciated it all the same.

"It's thanks to you kids that we possess the Code Crowns! You really think you stand a chance now?" Dorbickmon intimidated, and Taiki's already harsh glower sharpened, the guilt from before rising back up into his chest.

"You might possess them now, but not for long! Besides, that's all irrelevant right now! We're going to get our friends out of here, and you're not going to stop us!" the Xros Heart soldier cried. "_Now_!"

Jumping out from behind them, Dracomon shot off a fiery blast that temporarily blinded the evil Digimon. Taiki and Kiriha whipped out their X-Loaders and loaded their friends inside. However, while they were quick enough to protect the Digimon, they couldn't escape Dorbickmon's counterattack.

It sailed toward Taiki and Kiriha, and upon realising the blond was still injured, the Kudou boy did the only thing he could: he shielded Kiriha. The other boy's blue eyes widened at Taiki's sheer bravery (_stupidity_), but it was already too late to do anything. The Gogglehead shut his eyes and prepared for impact.

It never came. The thirteen-year-old opened his eyes to see something that both shocked and shook him to the core. Shoutmon had taken the blast for him head-on…and was now lying bruised and battered on the ground in front of them...

"_Shoutmon_!" Taiki shouted, his voice uncharacteristically bordering on panic. He ran forward and fell to his knees beside his best friend.

"Shoutmon...are you crazy…? Why would you…do that…?" he uttered shakily.

"Taiki!" Akari yelled, scrambling forward. "Get out of there!"

The vest-wearer snapped up to see Dorbickmon headed their way and clenched his fist, reloading Shoutmon. Before he could do much, however, a brighter light flashed at his side and a hand grabbed his. It was Nene, who imparted a strong smile.

Taiki had always hated running from a fight, but he'd also always known when he was in over his head. As Akari pulled him away and into the distracting light Taiki gritted his teeth, hating having to run from a fight immensely. However, things had gone so badly just now that he really had no choice this time. So he grudgingly accepted the fact that retreating now could be there only chance of survival. He felt another hand on his shoulder and was thrown to find it belonged to Kiriha; and though the blond never met his eye, he wore a sympathetic expression as Nene's Sparrowmon swooped down and picked them up, flying them back to safety before the light had vanished.

Hours later, Taiki continued to act out of sorts. He normally never kept Shoutmon in the X-Loader any longer than was absolutely necessary, but he was today because didn't think he could face him just yet.

Even more than that, though, there was one question he couldn't get out of his head: had they gotten…_weaker_ since losing the Code Crowns?

"Taiki?" A soft voice broke the silence, and Taiki looked up to find Akari. She sat down beside him on the ground and gently put a hand on his.

"You didn't let Shoutmon down, Taiki. He wouldn't have let you get hurt. You're his partner, his friend. Please don't blame yourself for what happened. We only saved Xros Heart because of your determination, after all!" Akari reminded, squeezing his hand comfortingly. The boy sighed a little.

"Maybe so, but Shoutmon could've _died_!" the older pressed, unable to keep the frustration from building up inside of him. "Kiriha was right, Akari. Things _aren't_ the same anymore. We have to be more careful; we can't just rush into things. We have to get the Code Crowns back first."

He stared sadly at his feet, and Akari sighed, pulling her childhood friend into a hug. Taiki returned it, for once taking the comfort instead of giving it.

From a fair distance away, Kiriha was watching them, and Nene was watching him from the corner of her eye.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" she inquired slyly, causing him to jump slightly. He hadn't realised that he himself was being watched.

"I don't know what you're prattling on about. I don't care about anyone." Kiriha asserted stubbornly, turning away, and Nene giggled briefly.

"I can also see you've learned to lie quite well," she teased, and the blond felt his cheeks flush as he was suddenly determined not to meet her gaze. "Honestly, I'm worried, too. Taiki's losing hope. It makes me wonder if he'll really be able to handle everything that's happened here…"

The light-haired brunette was just speculating, of course, and wasn't expecting a reply. So when she got one, she was pleasantly surprised.

"Taiki will never give up, no matter how difficult the challenges that befall him," Kiriha spoke confidently, though he still refused to lock eyes. "He's coming to realise just how bleak things are, but he'll do more than mange in the end. His heart is large and pure, and I've learned that matters far more in these situations than battle prowess. Taiki is stronger than we are combined. Coming through for us more than once is proof enough of that."

The light-brunette smiled brightly at this and nodded in agreement, turning her attention back to Taiki and Akari.

Kiriha was right. The Xros Heart General was in shock right now, but he would be able to pick up the pieces.

No doubt about it.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: _To those who reviewed, thanks again for your ongoing support! It means a lot to me!

**Digimonfanforever101: **The Akaiki moments in this chapter are for you! Though I'm not much of a romance writer, I did my best!

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Light of Hope**

Times in the cave were hard. It was hot and dry, and everyone was hungry and tired. Still, they pushed on.

Shortly after his talk with Akari, Taiki released the members of Xros Heart. Zenjiro, Nene, and Kiriha gathered around him and did the same with their own Digimon, Akari squeezing in to be part of the excitement.

A blinding light filled the cave, and when it faded digital monsters abounded.

Ballistamon was the first Digimon to speak, turning to Shoutmon. "Brother, what are we going to do? The Bugra Army's destroying our world!"

The red Digimon's eyes flicked to meet Taiki's. "What are we going to do?" he repeated rhetorically, a determined expression on his face. "We're going to win, that's what! I'm not willing to step down from my throne just yet!"

This brought a smile to his partner's face.

"Neither am I, guys!" Hopeful eyes scanned the crowd made up of friends, Digimon and human alike. "But if we want to have any chance of winning, we have to work together! We can't just run headfirst into this and hope to come out unscathed!" He scratched his head thoughtfully, peering down at the floor, then snapped back up again with a flick of his goggles. "I need you to tell me everything you know about the Code Crowns! You were Bugra prisoners for a while; you must know something!"

Cutemon's ears flattened to his head, and he hopped up on Dorulumon's back. The larger digital monster sighed, but silently conceded.

"Two of the Code Crowns are locked away on the highest peak of this mountain. They're guarded by some of the strongest soldiers of the Bugra Army. That's how…that's how we got caught in the first place…" Dorulumon admitted, shutting his eyes tightly against the painful memory. Cutemon, understanding his friend's difficulty, continued the tale for him.

"Taiki, _kyu_, you were right when you said the Code Crowns increase the power of the Bugra Army. The Bugra have made slaves of the Digimon of this land, _kyu_, and all we wanted to do was help free them, _kyu_!" His eyes flashed with deep sorrow and regret, and his entire body seemed to deflate. "The only way to do that was to get the Code Crowns…but we failed, _kyu_..."

Akari moved forward, hugging the sniffling pink Digimon tightly and giving him a small smile. She directs the same visage to the others. "You should be proud of yourselves! All of you were so brave! And hey, you've helped us a lot in one sense!" The girl brightened before catching Taiki's gaze. The gogglehead smiled back and looked to his team.

"That's right! Because of you, we know where two of the Code Crowns are!" Taiki cheered, and the Digimon attempted to feel better. He turned to his newest comrades. "Kiriha, Nene, I want you two to distract the guards long enough for us to get in, and knock them out the second we have what we came for. Only fight if absolutely necessary. Remember, our main objective is getting those Crowns."

The purple-loving teen nodded, but Kiriha was hesitant. He was about to speak up (after all, their last Bugra clash hadn't ended so well…) when Nene grabbed his arm and silenced him with an imploring stare.

He jumped slightly when ChibiKamemon darted in from out of nowhere, carrying many round things in his arms.

"ChibiKamemon, where were you? We were worried!" Taiki scolded lightly, and the little Digimon smiled, his eyes lighting up despite the gloomy situation.

"You all looked so hungry, _kame_, so I went outside to go pick some fruit!" His cheerful smile went toothy with mischievous glee. "And since I'm so small, no one noticed me, _kame_!"

Taiki's face softened, and in offering his thanks he took the apples, bananas and grapes. He distributed it evenly among his friends. It was nice to finally feed everyone, and it would surely help to lighten the mood a bit. When he reached Akari, he noticed her despairing expression and pressed an apple and a banana into her hands.

"Akari, you should eat. You need to keep your strength up," he said gently and smiled softly, though he knew eating was the last thing on her mind right now. The redhead sighed miserably.

"How...how could anyone want to destroy something so beautiful?" she wondered, taking a small bite of the apple.

It amazed her that these Bugra Digimon could be so cruel as to want to dominate everything—to control every life within reach, to destroy those who would stray. What good would it do them anyway? In the end, they would have to live in that barren, empty world with nothing but sadness around them. Did that make them happy? She glanced outside the cave on a whim, and the piece of apple in her mouth instantly turned sour. Dead, broken leaves were lying everywhere, and dried digital blood coated the ground. She swallowed thickly.

Just then, a hand grasped hers tenderly, and she brought her head up slowly.

"They're heartless, Akari," he stated without hesitation. "I used to wonder about them, too, when we first came to this world." He smiled adoringly now at those surrounding them. "But the _good_ Digimon, all of our soldiers here and the rest, they're counting on us. As long as they believe in us, we can do this."

The twelve-year-old searched Taiki's eyes and found the hope she always had. The redhead couldn't help but beam, proud to have a friend like Taiki. His positive outlook always gave her something to look forward to, made her feel like there really was a chance.

She gripped his other hand and squeezed strongly. "Yeah! We'll save them all!"

Taiki grinned and led her over to a few large rocks, where they sat down and began to eat. A few minutes in, ChibiKamemon walked up to them.

"Thank you for coming to save us, _kame_!"

Taiki smiled, kneeling down to the digital monster's level in order to cup his cheek gently. "Of course, ChibiKamemon. Xros Heart never lets a fellow Digimon down," he taps the tip of the Digimon-child's nose playfully, "_especially _not one of its own."

Akari laughed, but a desperate cry from outside cut her off.

"_Stop it_! _Please_!"

The girl crept toward the opening of the cave, careful to remain hidden. Glancing out into the open, she spotted a Lunamon running from two Devidramon. One of them finally caught up with her and threw her to the ground.

"Become our slave or face a painful death!" he threatened, and tears rolled down Lunamon's cheeks.

Before anyone could stop her, Akari ran to the vulnerable Lunamon. Taiki's eyes widened, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. Kiriha's expression was blank, yet his figure was stiff; he could only hope that girl knew what she was doing. Nene had a horrified hand to her mouth, her eyes terrified, and Zenjiro's mouth dropped open in shock. Cutemon cried out and tried to run after her, but Dorulumon caught hold of him and curled him protectively to his chest.

The redhead skidded to a stop in front of the Digimon and raised her arms to her sides, glaring sharply.

"Don't you dare!" Akari shouted, and despite being in the line of fire not a hint of fear could be heard in her voice. "You heartless monsters! Are you Bugra soldiers reallysoafraid to be beaten that you'll pick on those weaker than you? You're not strong at all! If anything, _you're_ the weaklings!"

Both Devidramon snarled and were about to finish Akari for what she said when a bright light blinded them. The twelve-year-old gasped as a pink X-Loader materialised in her hands, and she glanced back at Lunamon with wide eyes.

"_Lunamon_ is…my _partner_…?" Akari breathed in disbelief.

"_Akari_!" Taiki cried, running to her, Kiriha and Nene close behind with the others hot on the trail. Cutemon leaped ahead and landed beside Akari and Lunamon, and the Hinomoto's Digivice reacted.

"Lunamon! Cutemon! DigiXros!" she yelled, her X-Loader lighting up brilliantly.

"_Lunamon_!"

"_Cutemon_!"

"_DigiXros_!" Both Digimon cried, and the two began to change form.

"_Sheyanmon_!"

A white helmet with a gold crescent moon on the front formed over a woman's head, long brown hair falling down around her shoulders. A light pink tank top appeared with gold and white elbow length armoured gloves. Her pants were dark pink and fit around her legs tightly. Her armoured boots were white and gold heals that reached up to her knees, over the pants. In her right hand was a gold and white staff, with a pink moon at the top. Akari whispered the name sacredly under her breath, happiness shining in her eyes. Behind her, meanwhile, Zenjiro groaned, causing the others to look back at him.

"Why does _Akari_ get to DigiXros before _me_? I was a General _way _before she was!" he complained. Nene giggled, Kiriha rolled amused eyes, and Taiki sweatdropped at his rival-friend's mixed-up priorities.

"Light of the Moon, I command you! _Moon Spectrum_!" Sheyanmon cried and spun her staff, the moon on the top beginning to glow a fierce white color. Suddenly she stopped spinning it and pointed it directly at her enemies. The moon on top exploded with light and her attack was sent streaking towards the Devidramon. It hit the one on the right directly on target. As he stumbled backward from the attack, the left Devidramon's four red eyes began to glow with a deep red light.

"Red Eyes!" Four beams of light shot towards Sheyanmon, who was able to dodge the first two beams, but knew she wouldn't be fast enough for the following ones. She quickly placed her staff in front of her, which took the hits instead. The impact caused her to slide backward on the ground a bit, but overall she was fine.

"Crimson Claw!" The sound of the right Devidramon echoed around them and suddenly the evil Digimon was flying towards her, claws stretched out in front. Sheyanmon ducked just in time and used the moon-end of her staff to push her enemy as it flew overhead. The Devidramon groaned as it was shoved upward into the air.

"Red Eyes!" Hoping that Sheyanmon was distracted from the claw attack of its partner, the left Devidramon shot its beams towards her again. Unable to dodge the attacks this time, she did the only thing she could think to do. Before the right Devidramon could catch itself in the air with its wings, she swung her still glowing staff. It hit the first two beams as they reached her, and they were sent upward into the air towards the right Devidramon. She now had enough time to dodge the last two beams.

The right Devidramon cried out in the air as it was hit once again, this time by its partner's own attack.

"Moon Spectrum!" Sheyanmon cried out and sent her attack towards the left, still undamaged Devidramon. It hit, and the evil Digimon winced. The right Devidramon landed roughly next to his now injured partner, panting from having taken far more damage than the other. The two then backed off and disappeared into the forest, cursing Xros Heart's new advantage as well as their loss.

Sheyanmon de-Digivolved back to Lunamon and Cutemon, and the newcomer sprinted over to Akari.

"Thank you for saving me! I'm so glad we're partners!" she trilled happily, and the adolescent smiled kindly.

"I'm really glad we're partners, too. You both are amazing, you know?" Bending down, she hugged both of her new partners lovingly.

Taiki grinned at the scene before kneeling at Shoutmon's side. They still hadn't talked about what had happened at the execution grounds.

"Are you feeling better, Shoutmon?" the gogglehead asked quietly. The Digimon's gaze flitted to his friend, and he nodded emphatically.

"Of course!" He narrowed his eyes the slightest bit and seemed to scan the child's face. "Taiki..." his worried entrance made the human raise an eyebrow, "you're feeling guilty about what happened when I got hurt while trying to protect you and Kiriha, aren't you?" The child went an unnatural shade of white. "Taiki…please don't. I _chose_ to protect you. After all, you and I aren't just here to fight, right? Dorulumon, Ballistamon, and Beezlebumon are your partners, too, but they don't share the same bond with you that I do. Our bond is about _more_ than fighting."

Taiki was surprised. The other three werehis partners as well, yes, but his relationship with Shoutmon was definitely unique in comparison. He tried to come up with the right words to express what he was thinking.

"Shoutmon, you're right," Taiki finally conceded, getting stronger when Shoutmon met his eyes. "They _are_ my partners, but you...you're not _just _a partner to me. You're a dearly-cherished friend, and _that's_ why I've felt so horrible for before!" He clenched a fist tightly. "You got hurt because I let my guard down, and I almost couldn't accept it…" He relaxed his hand. "But I…I also realise that beating myself up for past mistakes won't help anyone, so I'll keep my guard up from now on, if only for your sake. I couldn't bear to see you or anyone else get hurt, but especially you, Shoutmon."

Taiki offered an affectionate smile, and Shoutmon responded in kind. The two turned their attention to the others, who had given them space while they talked.

"Is Xros Heart ready to head for the peak?" the General inquired, scanning them all in turn. Akari took his hand in answer, and Zenjiro laid a hand on his friend-rival's opposite shoulder. Kiriha and Nene exchanged glances, and the brunette sighed ahead of giving him the 'go-ahead.' She knew he needed to warn Taiki or it would eat him up inside.

"Taiki, Nene and I were…_easily _defeated when we engaged the Bugra Army in battle before," he set up, swallowing his pride and keeping his eyes firmly on the ground. "The odds were horrendous, and we were separated within a moment. What can you possibly fathom will allow us to overcome this at all?"

The gogglehead peered at the Blue Flare General in astonishment for a lengthy second, and then gave a small smile.

"Because we can," he uttered confidently, shrugging his shoulders. "Kiriha, we've discussed this. It isn't _strength_ that matters, it's _heart_! Once you have it clear in your mind what you're fighting for, you'll win without a doubt! And _we're_ fighting to make this world a place of peace and prosperity!"

The Digimon and humans around him roared with delight, and an unintelligibly-bewildered Kiriha whipped around before settling on Taiki once more. Nene reached over to take Kiriha's hand, and the blond took special note of the fact that there was a genuine smile on her face. At last, he relaxed and nodded, taking in their destination and then the late afternoon Sun's location in the sky.

"Fighting a war while unable to see our hands in front of our faces is suicide. The longer we stay here, the more precious daylight we lose. If we want to nurse any hope of beating them, we'd better get moving."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: _Guys this is a comparatively eventful chapter compared to the others. I hope you all enjoy this as much as the others. **Tripp_Nessa **I would like to give a big shout out to you, I love ya girlie you are honestly the best betareader any new writer can have. Also thanks to **Shizuku_Tsukishama749 **for correcting a few awkward sentences.

**Chapter 5: Walking on Thin Ice**

Akari getting her new partners and DigiXrossing had caused a huge celebration amongst the group. They were all sitting together in an open field eating food and playing games, which Shoutmon was clearly enjoying the most out of everyone there. It was mid day and the sun shone brightly down on the zone and its population below. It wasn't too hot though, as the air was constantly cooled off by a relaxing breeze passing by. Even Zenjiro while slightly put off by the fact that he didn't get to Xros or hadn't recieved second partner yet was trying to be happy for Akari. He just couldn't help wondering why he was progressing the slowest of everyone in the group though. He was a Kendo master, so shouldn't he be the strongest one there? Was he just not as skilled as he'd always thought he was?

"Zenjiro-san, are you okay?" a voice broke in suddenly, and Zenjiro spun around to see Nene standing there. Normally he would have melted in her presence, but as it were, right now he could only offer a small smile.

"Nene-san... I—I was just," he sighed heavily, "thinking about how Akari has her partners and can DigiXros, and…" he shrugged, "…well, you know…"

He wasn't jealous about it but it made him wonder if him even getting a X-Loader had been a mistake, after all. Maybe someone else was supposed to have been chosen as a General, and not him. It was hard to think something like that, but it seemed the most likely possibility.

Once again, Nene's voice snapped him out of these negative thoughts.

"Be patient, Zenjiro-san," she assured. "Everything has its right time. You were made a General for a reason, and you wouldn't be here if you weren't needed. Even if you don't see that now, you will."

Nene returned his smile with a bigger one, and Zenjiro thought about what she'd said. Maybe he was just over thinking things.

Meanwhile, Akari was talking with her two new partners, Taiki was doing the same with his team, and Kiriha was looking over Greymon and MailBirdramon to make sure they were well enough to travel. Yet here he was, moping about not being first at getting a Digixross and not having the most partners... Nene was right, he needed to snap out of it and grow up.

"All right, let's head out. Kiriha, Nene be careful." Taiki warned them after they'd finished with their party and packed everything up. They had decided to wait another night as Kiriha had a fighting strategy that would take place during the daylight, and Taiki definitely didn't want to let anyone down again.

As they separated, Zenjiro felt a strong anxiousness settle in his chest. If things went wrong it could be fatal for them all, and he wasn't sure how much he'd be able to help in a situation like that. Akari was clearly nervous too but hoped things would be okay. It was a risky fighting plan, but it had a good chance of succeeding. The problem was that all this waiting was making them edgy. Kiriha and Nene had gone up ahead into the cave which was muggy and dirty, broken leaves and piles of waste just outside in order to distract the guards. Once they were down they would head inside to get the Code Crowns and get out of there as quickly as possible. Fighting was their last priority in this plan, because if they ever hoped to defeat the Death Generals, then they needed to get the Code Crowns back first. They simply wouldn't have the power to win without them, and any fighting would prove pointless and put them in needless danger.

Taiki saw a blast, which was the signal from Kiriha and Nene to proceed. He suddenly got an idea though and released Beelzebumon from the X-Loader.

"Beelzebumon can you fly us up over the cave?" Taiki asked and the digimon nodded in agreement, picking Taiki, Akari and Zenjiro in his arms and flying to the top. Taiki's eyes widened. More guards on top and around the back... did that mean they would have to fight for real rather than just keeping two guards busy? If they were noticed then all of these guards would swarm them. Who were these new guys anyway?

Taiki didn't have to ponder too long though, because Sparrowmon managed to send one last blast at the Devidramon guards in the front. They stumbled back and were clearly dizzy; a perfect chance to run past them. Taiki's group made it into the dark cave without trouble, though having so little light would be an issue. Akari spotted the Code Crowns and pointed it out quickly.

The team proceeded to run down the cave corridor to try and get it before the front guards regained their composure or the other Digimon nearby noticed what was happening. Taiki tried to pull the two Code Crowns out but they wouldn't budge.

"Taiki, use your X-Loader." Akari suggested and when Taiki looked her in confusion she added "The Code Crowns are pure objects right? Well, the X-Loader might help it understand our pure intentions."

Taiki understood now and nodded, pulling out his X-Loader and pointing it at the Code Crowns. Both his X-Loader and the Code Crowns began glowing in sync. Maybe it was working! Could the X-Loader really communicate with it? He hoped so, because he wasn't sure how else to get it to accept him quickly enough. A crash was heard from outside and Taiki felt his body stiffen, tension filling it. He had a feeling Kiriha and Nene couldn't hold up the guards much longer or that maybe those other Digimon he'd seen had attacked as well. He looked desperately back at the Code Crowns, his intention seemed to get across to them. Quickly after that they shrunk down to a smaller size and appeared in his hands. Taiki quickly loaded them into the X-Loader and they turned around to head out of the cave and help the others. However, before they could even start running, DarkKnightmon appeared in front of them.

"I should have known you'd show up and try to steal the Code Crowns from me, **_Kudou Taiki_**."DarkKnightmon growled, emphasizing his enemy's name to show his deep hatred.

Akari glared, clenching her fists and releasing her partners, Lunamon and Cutemon.

"Lunamon! Cutemon! DigiXros!" Akari cried allowing them to combine into Sheyanmon.

"Taiki get out of here! Sheyanmon will keep DarkKnightmon busy!" The redhead said turning to her friend. Taiki shook his head though. No way was he going to let Sheyanmon do all of this alone, especially not when they were up against DarkKnightmon. He released all of his partners from his X-Loader; wishing things hadn't come down to a battle against such a strong opponent. He released all his partners.

"Shoutmon! Ballistamon! Dorulumon! Beelzebumon! DigiXros!" Taiki powered up his X-Loader and the four Digimon combined to ShoutmonX4B.

"I thought you were too much of a coward to battle me." DarkKnightmon sneered at Taiki as the gogglehead glared at him. "Your bravery is wasted opposing me, Human."

"I'll fight with my life to protect the Code Crowns if I have to!" Taiki shouted, determination laced in his voice. He hadn't come here to surrender the Code Crowns that they had only just gotten back. The Cave had gotten much darker since they had first entered it, but for once Taiki wasn't worried about losing this battle. Up until now he had been, but as he had told Kiriha, Xros Heart was about fighting for what you believed in and never turning your back on those in need.

Suddenly a new Digimon appeared behind DarkKnightmon, one that Taiki, Zenjirou and Akari hadn't seen before. It had a purple dragon's body, similar to a V-Mon, and a set of red and silver Kendo armour. On top of its helmet were two gray horns and all you could see through the mask were two glowing yellow eyes. In its hands was a Shinai; the traditional bamboo Kendo sword.

"DarkKnightmon!" Kotemon hollered. "I'm going to make you suffer for destroying my home!" Kotemon's voice cracked, and he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Everyone I knew... they're all gone now!"

Zenjirou could feel the grief in the Digimon's voice, and his X-Loader began to glow in his hand. DarkKnightmon... all he wanted was to cause suffering everywhere he went, didn't he? It was some sick, twisted game for him to hurt the innocent. Why didn't the evil Digimon feel terrible when he hurt others? Why?

"Kaji Men!" With an ear piercing scream, Kotemon lunged forward and struck at DarkKnightmon's head with his sword. The weapon suddenly became engulfed in flames and hit the evil Digimon right in the head. DarkKnightmon stumbled back in surprise, clearly not expecting such a small creature to have any power at all.

"Thunder Kote!" The fire vanished from Kotemon's sword and was replaced with electricity, and the Digimon slashed at DarkKnightmon's wrists in an attempt to disarm him. However, the evil Digimon had been ready this time, and he smacked Kotemon hard in the face. The small dragon flew backwards and slammed into the wall behind him.

Zenjirou felt his fists clench as he watched Kotemon slowly get up off the cave floor, not willing to give up until either he or DarkKinghtmon was destroyed. It wasn't fair... it just wasn't fair that he wasn't strong enough! He deserved to make DarkKnightmon pay for what he'd done.

The young kendo boy's heart began beating so fast that he felt as if it would leap out of his chest. He could feel a strange connection between himself and Kotemon that he wasn't sure how to explain. Before he could try and think about it though he was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud scream.

"Don't you get involved too, Nene!" DarkKnightmon seethed and trapped her in a dark energy ball as she and Kiriha ran into the cave to try and help. "You were supposed to be on my side, but you're just another worthless traitor to Bugra!"

"Nene-san!" Zenjirou shouted and felt his heart stop, and his X-Loader began glowing in his hand. Just then he realized why he felt a connection between himself and Kotemon.

"Dracomon! Kotemon! DigiXros!" Zenjiro cried. The two Digimon merged together into a large humanoid dragon. His body and tail were green with strong purple scales as armour. His wings, horns and claws were a deep shade of red, and his eyes were glowing yellow. On top of his head was a silver Kendo helmet, the horns sticking out of the top. His face was not visible behind the mask, and he was holding a large Shinai in his right hand. His name was Kanjorimon.

"Tri-Beam!" Kanjorimon cried out and stabbed his sword into the ground. As it connected with the ground, the blade lit up and three beams shaped like blades shot out towards DarkKnightmon. The attacks hit their target, and the evil Digimon stumbled backwards. Before he could retaliate Kanjorimon pulled his sword back up and lunged forward.

"Dou Strike!" The sword began to glow white, and the power of the attacked was increased drastically. DarkKnightmon groaned as the sword connected with his side. However, the evil Digimon thrust his large lance at the dragon and shoved him back into the wall.

Before Kanjorimon could attack again, DarkKnightmon shot a beam through the roof of the cave. Rocks crumbled down upon the group, and Kanjorimon had to use his scaled body to protect the humans from being crushed. Once the dust cleared and the rubble was pushed away, DarkKnightmon and Nene were no longer in the cave.

"Nene!" Sparrowmon cried the sky above and Zenjirou saw her rush down to try and help before DarkKnightmon escaped with Nene. The other four Digimon MetalGreymon, Shoutmonx4B, Sheyanmon and Kanjorimon crawled out of the cave as quickly as they could, but by the time they got down neither Sparrowmon nor Nene and DarkKnightmon were there.

"Nene! Nene-san!" Zenjiro cried out desperately trying to run forward and follow wherever they had gone but Kanjorimon grabbed him.

"We have to get her back." Akari's voice sounded tense as she looked upon the place where DarkKnightmon had just been. Kiriha turned away from the group, trying to think of where DarkKnightmon could have taken her. He had always been very interested in her. He turned to Taiki.

"We can't just rush off and get trapped too." Kiriha told Akari honestly. "You don't have to like it, but we need to come up with a plan first. Did you guys manage to get the two Code Crowns at least?" Kiriha asked the leader who nodded. Taiki couldn't help but feel somewhat satisfied, they had accomplished one mission now they just had to get Nene back before DarkKnightmon did something to hurt her somehow. He could sense Kiriha was worried even if he weren't showing it at the moment. Greymon and MailBirdramon seemed tired after the battle and Kiriha watched them, for once not disturbing them. After all, they had fought even though still being injured from the previous battle.

"We don't have time for a plan. We need to save Nene-san now." Zenjiro insisted causing both his partners to sigh at the hot-headed kendo loving boy. Kiriha crossed his arms.

"If he's taken Nene to the Bugra Army or even a secret hide-out he'll be expecting us." Kiriha retorted narrowing his eyes and Taiki stepped in before a fight would occur.

"Kiriha is right that we need a plan but at the same time Zenjiro is also right that we need to be quick about it since we don't know what DarkKnightmon is planning or what he might try to do to Nene." Taiki cut through both boys, looking at them and then at Akari and the others. "We head out tomorrow morning, so the digimon have enough time to rest. We'll plan something tonight. For now let's get back to the hideout. And good job everyone, we at least had half a victory today by getting the Code Crowns."

Though Taiki was partly doing it to encourage the group, he also was happy about half the victory they had earned. He also firmly believed they would get Nene back. Everyone cheered, though for Sparrowmon, Kiriha and Zenjiro the cheer really was half-hearted. Kiriha secretly hoped Nene wouldn't get herself into too much trouble, Zenjiro hoped Nene was okay and that she would be able to hang in there and Sparrowmon simply prayed for her partner's safety.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: _Ah thanks you lovely readers for your encouragement once more. Since I was encouraged by my betareader Tripp_Nessa to give the second arc another chance I did. I will admit one thing, some things proved to be useful like learning of Kiriha's past but still I would have imagined things turning out different as you have seen and will continue to see in my story.

**Chapter 6: The Pain of Failure**

It was early in the morning, the sun had just risen and everyone was still sleeping; all but one. Akari sat outside the cave, allowing the rays of sunlight to hit her, she watched the broken scenery around her. The digital world had become a wasteland thanks to the Bugra Army, so many innocent lives were at stake and now Nene had been captured by that good-for-nothing DarkKnightmon. Who knew where and in what condition she was?

"Akari?" A soft voice came and the redhead was snapped out of her thoughts. Akari tilted her head to meet the eyes of Lunamon and Cutemon, slightly surprised that they had realised she was gone considering she had come out so quietly. The redhead looked down, unsure of what to say.

"Akari what's wrong kyu? Why are you so sad kyu?" Cutemon asked jumping on her lap and the female General smiled at him. Her smile was half-hearted though it was clear, from the hidden sadness in the depth of her eyes.

"I'm worried about Nene." Akari admitted, after all Cutemon and Lunamon were her partners so she should be able to share her sorrows with them. Lunamon gave a small smile and put her paw on Akari's arm as her way of comforting her.

"Don't worry. You guys have big hearts." Lunamon spoke in a gentle tone. "You saved my life, Akari. I'm sure if we all work together, we'll be sure to succeed. I believe in us."

"That's the spirit!" An enthusiastic voice came causing Akari to turn and see Taiki standing at the entrance of the cave. Like always, an optimistic smile was planted on his face, his eyes filled with the hope they always were even though the redhead could tell, the hope in his eyes was slightly dulled. Akari walked over to him and suddenly without warning hugged him. Taiki blinked, surprised at the sudden action but hugged her back. Somehow he would never understand girls.

"It'll be okay, Akari. We're going to save Nene." Taiki said confidently, he would make sure that their team never let anyone down again. Akari looked at him, sometimes awed by how he could always keep such a positive front up but she smiled, admiring that about him. An hour or two later, the remaining team members woke up and after a light breakfast they headed out again to continue their mission.

They walked through the forest which was outside their cave, the place had become much worse, dried up blood, broken leaves, pieces of burnt bark lying everywhere. From a distance they could see a few small huts having been annihilated by all the destruction. The sight was sickening, the thought that anyone could be so cruel had fury boiling inside each and every one of them. However, no one spoke and took in the awful sight in silence. This silence was soon broken by the sound of weeping.

Taiki frowned, stopping for a moment, the others stopping behind him. After a moment more of listening, the gogglehead leader ran to the left the others following in close proximity. Taiki suddenly reached a stop, causing Akari to almost crash into him if she hadn't caught her balance in time and stopped. The sight in front of them caused them all a deep shock and negative reactions from all of them. Kiriha's eyes seemed to widen a small bit, Akari grabbed Taiki's arm, Zenjiro's eyes widened so much it looked like they would pop out of their sockets. The digimons' reactions weren't much better either.

Shoutmon's eyes had hardened with fury and disgust on how someone could watch innocent digimon weep like this and not feel ashamed of what they were doing. Lunamon and Cutemon had tears in their eyes and Cutemon was hiding her face in Dorulumon's fur. Dorulumon had shut his eyes as if that could make the painful sight before him disappear. Dracomon had a sympathetic expression in his eyes and Kotemon simply had turned away from the group, recalling memories of when his village had been destroyed.

Two bruised, battered and shaking Mikemon and Floramon were huddled together and weeping. The huts might have belonged to them...or maybe this place had once been their home that had now been destroyed by the Bugra Army. Zenjiro noticed Kotemon was keeping his distance and frowned. It was a painful sight for all of them but knew it was probably worse for Kotemon since his own home had been destroyed by that swine DarkKnightmon.

All eyes turned to Akari causing the redhead to flush. She knew what it meant, she was a girl it was best if she talked with the two digimon. Akari personally thought Taiki was better for the job but since everyone wanted her to do it, she guessed she could give it a shot. She saw Zenjiro head towards Kotemon and took a step towards the two digimon.

"Hey." Akari said gently moving forward and slowly extending her hand towards them. Clearly this was the wrong move to make and the digimon only held onto each other more tightly than before.

"It's okay. You're among friends." The redhead assured them and they regarded her warily so she continued hoping to convince them. "We're not here to hurt you. In fact, we're Xros Heart, we're rebelling against the Bugra Army. You can trust us."

Kiriha narrowed his eyes slightly. Honestly, this was such a waste of time. They should be looking for Nene, rescuing her not wasting time on the survivors who'd probably end up getting in the way.

"Shouldn't we be searching for Nene?" Kiriha asked Taiki coolly. Shoutmon was about to retort but Taiki shook his head at his partner before he said something wrong and messed things up.

"Yes, but I can't turn my back on these guys either. Their home was destroyed, Kiriha." Taiki told him seriously looking at him with such strong emotion that the blond had to tilt his head away because he couldn't meet the others' gaze for so long. That wasn't strength...was it? If anyone wanted to survive, they needed to become stronger otherwise they didn't deserve to live that was what he had always been told. He was snapped out of these thoughts by Akari's voice.

"Okay, Mikemon and Floramon will come into my X-Loader so they can rest and will be joining us. Plus it's safer." Akari said then took out her X-Loader reloading them into it. Taiki gave her a small smile as thanks and the redhead simply nodded, to acknowledge it.

While this was going on, Zenjiro had gone to talk with Kotemon.

"Hey Kotemon, are you okay?" Zenjiro asked noticing his partner a little down and could guess why but still he wanted the other to know that he wasn't alone anymore.

"I was just thinking...I know how those two digimon feel." Kotemon said softly and Zenjiro frowned softly, feeling anger at the Bugra Army on behalf of his partner. "I was assistant to our rulers Seraphimon and Ophanimon, they trusted me on their lives. I tried my best to protect them when the Bugra Army attacked, but forget protecting them...I was lucky to get out of there alive myself. I was such a coward...though I promised Ophanimon I would bring Seraphimon back to the light. Ophanimon was killed in the attack, Seraphimon was taken over by the main dark jewel."

Zenjiro listened and felt the anger burning in his stomach. He was feeling more and more furious as his partner spoke. How dare they? How dare they destroy the lives and homes of innocents? He couldn't believe he had ever even considered deserting this place and staying in the real world. If his home had been destroyed like this, those he loved being taken away from him while he could only watch, he'd want someone to come and show some mercy and help as well. However, this anger was now replaced by curiosity as Seraphimon mentioned a dark jewel. The kendo-boy decided to definitely let Taiki know about that.

"Kotemon...you're anything but a coward." Zenjiro consoled kindly but at the same time being honest with what he really thought about the situation. "In fact, you fought for your kingdom and I'm sure we'll bring Seraphimon back to the right side. But for that you need to believe. I know it's hard but as they say the road to succeeding is never the easy one. You with me buddy?" He extended his hand towards Kotemon and Kotemon looked at his partner before placing his own paw in his human General's hand. After a moment, they both went to join the others just as Akari was saying about the two digimon resting in her X-Loader.

"Taiki, Kotemon mentioned something about a dark jewel that possesses digimon to turn evil." Zenjiro informed grabbing his friend-rival's sleeve as he spoke. Taiki looked at him curiously as they walked further. "I thought you should know. Maybe the dark jewel is a transformed Code Crown?" Taiki's eyes widened at this, for a moment unsure of how to react. He looked at the two Code Crowns they had gotten back and wondered if something so pure could be transformed into something so horrendous? He gulped inwardly thought but simply nodded at Zenjiro. He needed some time to come to grips with this.

Meanwhile, DarkKnightmon had arrived back at the castle with Nene trapped. He threw her in a dark black cage like one would imagine a human jail room. The brunette screamed at the rough treatment and stood back up as DarkKnightmon slammed the door shut.

"You'll pay, Nene." DarkKnightmon growled, venom dripping from his voice. "I don't forgive traitors, you're lucky I didn't throw your brother's dead body at your feet."

Nene felt her eyes widen momentarily before her expression hardened into a cold stare.

"Leave Yuu out of this!" Nene cried, she couldn't let this happen she needed to get out of here and find Yuu before this monster hurt him. An evil glint came in the dark digimon's eyes and he simply laughed before walking off. The brunette leaned against the wall for a moment wanting to make sure DarkKnightmon had gone before taking out her X-Loader releasing three Monitorimon. She gave two of them instructions and one she would keep with her. Nene walked closer to the cage, gripping the bars wondering where Taiki and the others were. Were they looking for her?

She felt so frustrated with herself. Everything was going wrong and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The young girl had never felt more powerless than now. Her brother was captured, her friends would have to come find her when they could have been searching for the rest of the Code Crowns and there was a possibility DarkKnightmon was using her as bait to lure the others. After all, the less Code Crowns the Bugra Army had they would begin to lose power. Even though Taiki and the others had only taken back two of the Code Crowns, for the Bugra Army each one mattered.

The sound of footsteps was coming through the corridors and Nene guessed DarkKnightmon was coming back and quickly pulled the Monitorimon with her into the X-Loader. Once DarkKnightmon came back, Nene's eyes widened at who was with her. Her brother, Yuu.

"Nii-san! Are you not enjoying this game?" Yuu asked looking confused. Nene frowned.

"Game? What are you talking about, Yuu? This is no game!" Nene cried unsure of what her brother meant and Yuu simply laughed.

"Nii-san, the digital world is nothing but a game. No matter what we do everything here is just data." Yuu said casually and Nene couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was about to speak again but DarkKnightmon interrupted their little sibling reunion.

"Yuu, would you like to see me play with your sister?" DarkKnightmon drawled with what seemed like very forced enthusiasm but he had to make it sound like he was really only playing. Yuu nodded, a smile on his face as he then turned to face his older sister.

"Good luck Nii-san. May the best player win." Yuu's tone was cheerful and playful. He didn't even realise how serious things were. Nene felt a sickening feeling settle in her stomach, her knuckles turned white and she felt numb. For the first time, she was terrified. Not for herself but from this dark digimon and what he was capable to do.

_Kiriha-kun, Taiki...where are you guys? _The brunette thought shutting her eyes. An involuntary scream left her as she was thrown back by a blast from DarkKnightmon. She crashed into the wall and fell to her knees.

"Nene...why do you insist on going against me? You would be more powerful on my side." DarkKnightmon offered and Nene stood back up, glaring at the evil digimon. She could feel a bruise forming on her elbow and frowned but let it slide.

"I will never join you. And I'll get Yuu back as well." Nene shouted, fury and anger dripping from every edge of her voice. However, once more she was thrown back by a blast, the brunette quickly attempted to move her arms in front of her face to at least shield the impact but the blast was so strong that it threw her back again. A cut appeared on her arm, blood trickling out of it and she winced from the pain attempting to stand back up again but falling back down. She shut her eyes, she had to fight this pain, no one was coming however she forced her eyes open as she heard a familiar voice.

"Leave Nene alone!" Sparrowmon cried flying inside at high speed. DarkKnightmon's expression hardened in fury and he got ready to blast Sparrowmon causing Nene to gasp.

"Sparrowmon, be careful!" Nene managed to stutter out, and took out her X-Loader releasing Monitorimon.

The other two Monitorimon had managed to catch glimpse of Taiki and the others, rushing over to them. The team was slightly startled to see Monitorimon there.

"Nene needs help, Moni. We'll show you." One of the Monitorimon said and the screen faded to show Nene.

"Everyone...you have to get here..." Nene said her voice sounding frail and everyone looked shocked at how injured Nene seemed.

"Nene, where are you?" Kiriha asked urgently, he could hear the sound of fighting behind her and knew their communication could be cut off at any time.

"DarkKnightmon's castle, he's got Yuu here as well." Nene responded her eyes drooping as she winced once more from the pain in her right arm as more blood trickled downwards. "Sparrowmon is doing her best to distract DarkKnightmon, you guys have to hurry! Be careful though. I don't understand what DarkKnightmon is up to."

"Don't worry Nene, we're on our way just hang in there a little longer." Akari said firmly and gasped as DarkKnightmon suddenly appeared on the monitor instead of Nene.

"You children are pathethic." DarkKnightmon sneered triumphantly causing the group as a whole to glare at him. "Kudou Taiki, bring me back the Code Crowns you stole from me otherwise I really will bring this game to a close." The screen then faded out and Taiki clenched his fists. There was no way he was surrendering the Code Crowns, they would get Nene back and keep the Code Crowns. They had to. The fate of the digital world depended on them. The gogglehead flicked his goggles before getting out his X-Loader.

"Wisemon, we need help. There has to be a way to rescue Nene without surrendering the Code Crowns." Taiki spoke his tone almost pleading as he did so. The Code Crowns just couldn't be taken away from them again. It wasn't right.

"Relax, Taiki. I will figure something out." Wisemon assured and Taiki gave a soft smile before releasing Beelzebumon and Dorulumon before turning to Kiriha.

"The faster we get there the sooner we can get Nene." Taiki explained to the blond and moving his gaze to the others slowly. "DigiXros is saved for emergency. MailBirdramon, Dorulumon and Beelzebumon can take us there faster. Guys, we have to work together to make sure both our tasks are accomplished. We can't allow DarkKnightmon to succeed."

Kiriha glanced over at Taiki, he had to admit the boy did impress him even if he would never admit this out loud. Despite the odds of succeeding not being that high in his opinion, the boy still was doing all he could to prevent the Code Crowns to be taken back. It also made him feel disappointed on how easily he was going to surrender before.

Zenjiro smiled softly, he glanced at Kotemon and Dracomon. Having the two digimon as his partners really gave him hope and a purpose to fight. Both of them had gone through so much in the digital world, yet still hadn't thrown in the towel. For that reason, the kendo-loving boy admired his partners and definitely decided to help them no matter what happened in the process. Of course, he wanted to rescue Nene as well, the poor girl seemed so injured he honestly had a lot of things right now he wanted to make that vile creature DarkKnightmon pay for.

Akari gave an encouraging smile, though deep inside she was a little nervous. It just seemed everytime their team was a step closer to succeeding something would happen that would push them back. It was one step forward, two steps back sort of scenario going on here. However, she could tell Taiki wasn't willing to give up and if he wasn't giving up then neither would she. After all, she was also a General now and owed it to both her partners to give it her all to help them.

Shoutmon was also as determined as Taiki was but also a little worried. If they lost the Code Crowns, their last victory will have been for nothing. Pushing these doubts aside however he focused on their mission instead of worrying about these things as they didn't have time to focus on worries.

After this, they headed to DarkKnightmon's castle, Taiki and Kiriha having both gone there once before when DarkKnightmon had tried to trap both under his darkness spell. However, guards were everywhere making it impossible to get in. Akari jumped down from Dorulumon's back.

"Guys, go on ahead." Akari said as her two partners jumped besides her ready to fight, her eyes met with Taiki and while he was worried he did so hoping his friend would be able to handle this even if he knew that Sheyanmon was quite strong. With Sheyanmon distracting the guards, they were able to move forward however more guards appeared in front of them so Zenjiro decided he would handle them.

Taiki hated leaving his friends behind and wasn't sure if this was the best plan but they had to try and win this as well as get Nene back. They finally made it inside.

"Kiriha-kun! Taiki!" Nene exclaimed, happiness sparkling in her eyes even though she was bleeding and bruised badly. Sparrowmon lay unconscious in a corner and the situation didn't look good overall. Taiki was about to reload all his partners but DarkKnightmon was faster and striked him grabbing him by the throat and crashing him into the wall.

"Taiki!" Shoutmon, Nene and Kiriha all cried at once in shock at how fast DarkKnightmon had moved so suddenly.

Taiki struggled, being unable to breathe with DarkKnightmon's tight grip on his neck but knew he had to get out of here. Shoutmon rushed forward sending attack after attack at DarkKnightmon but was soon grabbed by Yuu and struggled wildly against his captor.

"Yuu...stop it...please this isn't a game...if anyone of us here dies...we really will." Nene said weakly managing to stumble back to her feet. Kiriha clenched his fists, for once unsure of how to react to the situation he knew they could win but Taiki's words came back into his head.

_We'll make getting the Code Crowns back our first priority._

But right now they had no choice. They had to fight. The same thing was going through Taiki's mind and using all of his strength he brought a knee up and kneed DarkKnightmon in the stomach, managing to break free for long enough to release his main fighters from the X-Loader. DarkKnightmon reached to grab him again but Dorulumon knocked him back and Taiki ducked to avoid being grabbed by the evil digimon. His eyes widened however as more guards appeared surrounding them from all sides.

Taiki did a handstand moving fast and grabbing Shoutmon from Yuu's hands but falling to his knees at the end exhausted from attempting to fight DarkKnightmon.

"Kiriha, hurry!" Taiki cried and Kiriha clutched his X-Loader firmly in his hand.

"Greymon! MailBirdramon! DigiXros!" Kiriha cried allowing them to combine and form into MetalGreymon. He released Cyberdramon and Deckerdramon allowing them to fight as well due to the large number of guards there were.

"Everyone, are you ready?" Taiki asked his partners knowing they were struggling against DarkKnightmon due to him being fairly strong. His partners nodded and combined to form Shoutmon x4B and assisted in fighting the dark digimon. DarkKnightmon sneered taking a step towards Taiki once more however the gogglehead was busy watching the fight and didn't notice. However, Kiriha did and ordered Deckerdramon to keep DarkKnightmon busy, the last thing they needed was for the evil digimon to have another hostage to use against them.

However, he was taken aback when a blast came from another end. Akari, Zenjiro and their partners were thrown inside, both Sheyanmon and Kanjorimon having dedigivolved back to their smaller forms and looking exhausted. DarkKnightmon simply laughed at this and took out his Darkness Loader and forced all his allies into a DigiXros with him to form DarkKnightmon:UltraChaos Mode. Shoutmon x4B and MetalGreymon attempted to hold their ground but were thrown back and defeated. They also digivolved back to their smaller forms.

"Shoutmon! Everyone!" Taiki cried running forward to see if his friends were okay but DarkKnightmon:UltraChaos Mode sent a blast at him.

"Chaos Whirlwind!" He roared knocking Taiki off his feet and sending him crashing back into the wall. Akari gasped in shock and got to her feet immediately.

Taiki groaned as he crashed into the wall, he felt blood trickle down his face. His forehead was bleeding. Why was this happening? They had always won before and now they were all being thrown around like flies. Omegamon had held such high hopes for all of them and they were being beaten so badly. Sure, they had gotten two Code Crowns back but the gogglehead felt even that wasn't going to last with the way everyone was down and out. He heard Akari scream as DarkKnightmon trapped her with some dark electric wire type vines and got to his feet, he had to something they couldn't lose. Another blast was sent at Kiriha. Taiki's body moved before he could even think twice and he jumped tackling Kiriha to the ground as the blast trying to shield the other as much as he could with his own body and screamed as he felt each bone in his body protesting from the pain. As soon as the blast ended he collapsed. Kiriha was injured but only with a few scrapes and bruises. The blond's eyes seemed to widen as he saw Taiki's condition and wondered why someone would risk their own life to save his it just didn't make sense on why anyone would do that.

His eyes went around and saw that everyone was lying bruised and unconscious. He was the only one conscious right now, but what could he do? Even if the digimon were still conscious, this guy was too strong and it was too late to retreat. Before he could ponder for much longer though the ground suddenly disappeared from underneath and without thinking he grabbed Taiki's arm so the gogglehead wouldn't injure himself any more than he already had, he could be so reckless sometimes. They were all in another cage however it was closed by golden thorns that fit into each other like a jigsaw puzzle. This couldn't have happened, the battle had been lost. He lay Taiki down gently on the floor before going to check on the others. They couldn't allow themselves to become prisoners the future of the digital world depended on it.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: __Thanks for the reviews, everyone and all right I got a new reviewer, even if some of my older reviewers seemed to have died away for this chapter which I hope is just because you guys are busy and not because you are no longer interested. Anyway, this chapter is another dark one :) Sorry to those who don't like it and thanks for the constructive crits folks, it helps a newbie like me a lot._

**Chapter 7: Never Be Helpless Again**

Kiriha hated this feeling of helplessness. For the first time that he could recall, he felt guilty, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Watching Taiki take such a harsh blow for his sake... well, what should he think? No one had ever done something like that for him before. Of course he knew Taiki cared about everyone, but to put his own life at risk in order to save his was beyond anything he could wrap his head around. However, this was not important at the moment.

The blonde's eyes travelled to each of his fallen comrades and he wondered how they would get out of this one. He saw Nene stir, her back on the floor and her hair covering her face. Kiriha, who had leaned Taiki against him so that he would not fall over and possibly injure himself even more, gently laid the other boy back against the nearby wall.

The large golden cage they were trapped in was placed inside of a dim, empty room. There was a strange energy shield around the thorn bars as well, most likely to help prevent them from escaping. It was hard to see anything outside of the cage, which wasn't very large at all. Kiriha wondered where they were, and what DarkKnightmon was planning on putting them through.

"Nene?" Kiriha asked, his voice unusually soft. Right now the others were more important than keeping up a strong facade. Nene coughed and attempted to sit up, but winced from her injuries.

"I'm okay, Kiriha-kun." Nene assured him with a small smile, then looked around to see the others unconscious. She frowned and sat up quickly, startled to see everyone in such bad shape. Her body was not ready for such an action though, and she whimpered with pain and fall back down. Kiriha reached out his arms, catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Thank you." The brunette said softly and smiled. Kiriha turned a light shade of pink, moving his head to the side in hopes of avoiding her gaze.

"I... I just didn't want you to get hurt more than you already are. It would be unbeneficial to the group, that's all." The Blue-Flare General muttered and Nene rolled her eyes at his typical cool guy act, but at the same time she felt a bit flattered. She knew he really did care about her, and it was just his way of telling her. She didn't think about it much longer though, because as her eyes travelled over to the others her expression saddened.

"So... we really lost?" The young girl asked, looking at the fallen figures of Taiki, Akari and Zenjirou. It couldn't be...could it? This was just a setback, they hadn't lost for real. If that was the case though, then why did she feel like all hope was gone? Luckily Kiriha spoke before she could dwell on her negative thoughts any further.

"Of course we haven't lost!" Kiriha said firmly, trying to convince himself as well because in all honesty, he had the same sinking feeling. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, as one by one the others began to regain consciousness. Once Zenjirou was alert he moved to help Kiriha support Taiki, but they were surprised when the boy pushed them away. Such a coldness and reluctance to receive help was very strange for the goggle boy.

"I'm not what's important right now." Taiki said, surprising Nene and Kiriha. Unlike Akari, Zenjirou and Shoutmon, they hadn't seen just how selfless he could be when his friends were in great danger. "The Bugra Army has our Xros Loaders except for yours, Kiriha. Nene, what about you?" Nene pulled her Xros Loader out from her shoe and gave a weak smile.

Kiriha blinked, surprised at Nene's idea of where to hide her X-Loader. He had to admit that he was impressed with her idea. Something like that probably wouldn't have worked on a Human, but Digimon didn't usually have shoes, so something so simple probably wouldn't have crossed their minds. Then again, his had only been inside of his back pocket, and they surely knew to look there... it was almost like they intentionally let him keep it or something. He wasn't going to dwell on it too much though, because having two X-Loaders was still a lot better than having one. Actually, it would probably be best to save Nene's for an emergency.

The blonde showed Taiki his own X-Loader before also taking off his shoe and putting it inside, following Nene's lead. Whether they knew he had it or not, he wasn't about to just let them have it.

Everyone jumped as a voice spoke out.

"Ah, so you're finally awake." A loud, cold voice boomed and everyone cringed as a bright light was turned on in the room around them. Once their vision had adapted, they turned to see a completely bare room; a windowless, empty grey space with only a golden cage inside. However, it was at that moment that they noticed movement. One of the walls was sliding to the side, revealing a once-hidden panel. It created a doorway, and through it came DarkKnightmon. Taiki and the others felt their blood run cold as they realized what the dark Digimon was dragging along behind him; a thick chain with their Digimon partners connected to it by their necks. Large black clamps held their throats to the main link of chain, and more clamps held their limbs together. The restraint was glowing with a strange purple aura, and Kiriha got the feeling it was draining the power from them.

Their partners were growling and struggling fiercely, but as they moved, their metal bindings would shock them with electricity. Kiriha clenched his teeth, wanting to rush out and personally give DarkKnightmon the beating of his life, but Nene touched his shoulder and shook her head.

"Let us go-kyu!" Cutemon shouted and struggled madly, his eyes filled with frustration. A few seconds later he screamed as the bindings shocked him.

"Cutemon..." Akari felt tears tug at her eyes, her body tensing with fear as she watched both of her partners bound like criminals. No, like animals stuck in a cruel poachers trap! She wouldn't cry... somehow she wouldn't. Even though she wanted to scream out in anger, she held her emotions in hopes of figuring a way out of this. They wouldn't lose...not after all they had been through!

"Cutemon!" Dorulumon roared, his eyes nearly turning red with the deep boiling hatred he held for the Bugra Army.

Taiki was also glaring and moved forward despite his injuries, getting as close as he could to the end of the cage.

"You're nothing but a coward, DarkKnightmon." The gogglehead muttered in a tone that no one had ever heard from him. It wasn't necessarily the words that were spoken, but the way that it was spoken. His voice was cold and filled with hatred; something that the loyal and caring boy never sounded like. His friends and partners all looked at him, surprise etched on their faces.

DarkKnightmon simply laughed before moving towards Dorulumon and Beelzebumon.

"These two were also traitors to the Bagra Army." The dark Digimon murmured, acting as if he hadn't heard Taiki at all. Taiki's whole body stiffened as DarkKnightmon advanced towards two of his partners; without his X-Loader he felt so helpless. However, he didn't want to show weakness because anything could be taken advantage of at this moment.

Suddenly the bindings were removed off of Beelzebumon and Dorulumon, the clamps around their necks unlocking and their limbs set free. The two Digimon struggled to their feet, weak and injured. They managed to get up though, and slowly they moved forward in order to attack, but DarkKnightmon simply smirked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." DarkKnightmon warned, causing both Digimon to halt but their expressions remained hard. "Above the cage of your Generals, there is a switch to which I have control of. If I want to, I can make the whole cage and your friends disappear forever in a large blast of explosives. I won't do that if you cooperate, that is."

Taiki and the others looked up to find that there was indeed a small portion which had a metal switch. Zenjirou gulped inwardly and glanced back at Dorulumon and Beelzebumon, hoping they could handle this. He was taken aback by Taiki's words though.

"Dorulumon! Beelzebumon!" Taiki cried in order to get his partner's attention. "No matter what happens to us, you have to save yourselves, please!"

Beelzebumon exchanged a glance with Dorulumon and smiled. "How could we only worry about ourselves, Taiki?" Beelzebumon asked, glancing at his partner. "True warriors fight for their friends, not just for themselves."

"Beelzebumon..." The gogglehead spoke, his knuckles white from the nervousness he felt. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. He just knew that something bad was going to happen, his gut instinct said so and all he could do was stand on the sidelines and watch. His friends and partners were standing amidst in the fray, his X-Loader and very life in the hands of the enemy.

"We're not going to just turn our backs on you Taiki, not after everything we've fought for." Dorulumon gave a half-smile. At that moment, the Xros Heart General felt his knees weaken as he fell. It was as if all of his physical and emotional pain was hitting him at the same time. Why was this happening? His head felt heavy and he'd almost collapsed just now if it weren't for Zenjirou, despite his own injuries having moved forward and caught him.

No, what really made this so hard was being able to do absolutely nothing. Having his Xros Loader made it possible for him to fight back and save his friends, no matter how grim the situation was. He could always keep even a small shred of hope with him then. But this time he had no power, and there was nothing he could do about it while he was confined within a cage.

"Hang in there Taiki." Zenjirou muttered even though he felt horrible about the whole situation as well. No matter what though he knew that it must be much more difficult for the other boy. As guilty as he felt for thinking it, the kendo boy was glad that it wasn't Kotemon or Dracomon in imminent danger. They had been thrown back before by DarkKnightmon's Chaos Whirlwind along with Akari's Digimon. Somehow the evil knight had found Akari's partners, but hadn't appeared to have captured his. Perhaps Kotemon and Dracomon had managed to hide somewhere?

DarkKnightmon reached behind him and pulled out a metal club and a hot poker, holding one in each of his hands. Taiki's eyes widened and he pushed Zenjirou off of him, rushing at the edge of the cage. Before he could make it though, he was thrown back.

"Taiki, stop it!" Kiriha said, his voice stern as he looked at the other boy. "You need to rest, you're injured enough!" However, when Taiki looked back up at him, instead of anger and frustration radiating in the goggle boy's eyes like Kiriha had expected, there was pain and sadness. The blonde looked away, unable to face the sight that was all too familiar to him. He wanted to snap the other boy out of this, tell him to become stronger, but found that he couldn't.

"Taiki..." Akari muttered, worried about her best friend and not wanting him to over-exert himself too much, considering how hurt he already was. Nene frowned sympathetically and thought about getting out her X-Loader and putting an end to this, but she knew that being reckless could put them in a worse situation than they already were. DarkKnightmon was no push over, and if she made the first move he might just kill them all.

Suddenly Taiki leapt back onto his feet and darted towards the cage again.

"Taiki!" Both Akari and Nene cried in astonishment. Kiriha managed to grab the goggle head just in time and pulled back as hard as he could. It took a lot of work and some struggling between them, but in the end he succeeded at pulling Taiki away from the cage. Had the Xros Heart leader not been so injured, he wasn't sure if he'd have been able to do it.

"If you over-exert yourself you won't be able to help them." Kiriha told the other boy, unsure of what else to say. He too wanted to fight, but one wrong move could get them all killed. The little conversation between them was cut off from a loud roar by Dorulumon, the hot poker stabbing into his side. Taiki gasped, using all his self-restraint to keep from running at the cage again.

"Dorulumon!" The gogglehead cried desperately, every muscle in his body aching to break free of the blonde's grasp. He attempted to punch the shield in frustration.

Dorulumon tried to hold in his pain and not cause Taiki even more grief, but was unable to stop himself from gritting his teeth and grunting. The metal spike and the hot poker came one after the other against his body. He shut his eyes and tried to block the pain out. For a while he managed to silence himself, but it did not last. A scream erupted from his throat, echoing around the room and nearly rattling the bars of the cage. With each blow he felt more and more like he was dying. Red burn marks were beginning to appear on his body, screams continuing to pierce the ears of the other Xros Heart members.

Blood stained the bottom of the floor. The two who were closest to him, Taiki and Cutemon, struggled to escape and help him. Taiki beat against the shield with his fists between the thorn bars while Cutemon wiggled around as best he could, getting shocked repeatedly. However, it was all to no avail. Beelzebumon had clenched his fists and closed his eyes, trying desperately to think of a way to help Dorulumon without possibly killing Taiki and the others. However, after enough screams had echoed in his ears, he felt his anger snap.

"Chaos Flare-"

"Twin Spear!"

Before Beelzebumon could even finish his attack he was thrown to the ground by DarkKnightmon, the dark Digimon having dropped his club to pull out his true weapon. Beelzebumon coughed, blood trailing down his face.

"Stop it!" Taiki closed his eyes and gripped at his hair fiercely. His breathing was getting shallower from the physical strain he was putting on his body, but he didn't care. Akari was attempting to help Kiriha keep him back, but became even more frightened when Cutemon attempted to escape.

"Leave him alone-kyu!" Cutemon cried, once again getting electrocuted by the bindings and could only whimper this time. Dorulumon snarled viciously and glared at DarkKnightmon in defence of Cutemon, but was unable to do much more than that, agony shooting through his body. He coughed and tried to regain some small shred of strength as DarkKnightmon moved from him to Beelzebumon and glanced over at Taiki, making sure the cage was still undamaged. Akari also glared at DarkKnightmon as she heard Cutemon scream and vowed to make the evil monster pay, but was distracted from her anger by Dorulumon speaking.

"Taiki...calm down...we're tough, we won't go down that easily..." Dorulumon managed to rasp out before collapsing into unconsciousness. However, the gogglehead had already worn himself out and also collapsed, his previous injuries catching up to his current mental anguish. Akari and Kiriha both moved forward in order to break his fall.

While this was happening, Zenjirou had snuck to the back of their holding cell and begun to dig. If they could go underground and find the switch that DarkKnightmon was holding as a threat, he wouldn't have as much power over them. Not only that, but it might be easier to escape as well. Nene noticed this and moved over to Kiriha, bending over to whisper in his ear.

"I'll help with Taiki-kun. Please go help Zenjirou." Nene whispered and the blonde looked up, his eyes going to the other boy. He frowned and wondering what he was doing, but pushed that aside and nodded anyway. Somehow, he trusted Nene's words.

Nene took Taiki's other side in order to support him. Akari looked at the other girl worriedly, on the verge of tears.

"Nene, we have to get him out of here. He needs urgent medical attention." The redhead said, her heart clenching painfully at seeing her best friend like this. The brunette girl reached out and squeezed Akari's hand softly, wanting to comfort the other girl like she had once done for her when Nene had been upset about her brother.

"We will, but right now we need to keep DarkKnightmon's attention on us to buy time." Nene told the other girl in a low voice. Akari blinked for a moment before glancing over at Kiriha and Zenjirou, who had both begun digging. She turned back and nodded to Nene.

"Hey DarkKnightmon, you're a coward! You can't win in a fair match so you use hostages to give you a winning chance!" Akari cried, knowing Beelzebumon couldn't take much more of this torture and Taiki would probably have a complete mental break down if any of his partners died and he was helpless to stop it.

Beelzebumon coughed out blood from the whole beating, his arm had been blasted off and he could barely feel a steady breath coming. When DarkKnightmon finally stopped, Beelzebumon also just wanted to collapse but found himself glancing over at Taiki. When he noticed how shallow his Human partner was breathing he gritted his teeth. They needed to all get out of here before what they lost was too much to ever get back.

DarkKnightmon simply smirked when Akari shouted at him.

"But I even gave you a fair chance, and all you did was get yourselves captured." DarkKnightmon mocked and Nene felt fury fill inside her chest.

"Liar! You held me hostage, how is that fighting fair?" Nene cried out angrily and Akari nodded in complete agreement with the other girl. DarkKnightmon wanted to blast both of them for that but Beelzebumon, while still very weak, grabbed his arm and kept his grip tight. Akari felt worried for the Digimon and hoped that Kiriha and Zenjirou would figure something out soon. She saw Dorulumon stir and winced as Beelzebumon was thrown back against the wall. DarkKnightmon moved towards Dorulumon again.

Meanwhile Kiriha had glanced over at Zenjirou to see what he was doing. For a moment he was confused, the Kendo boy digging fiercely with his hands into the dirt. Then he realized what the other boy's plan was. It wasn't a bad idea to try and dig an escape route while DarkKnightmon was distracted, but there was no way their human hands could do it. Even if they managed to find a tool somehow, it would still take days of nonstop digging to get out. Their only option was to get a Digimon to help them somehow.

Kiriha pulled out his Xros Loader and kept it close to his chest, not wanting anyone to see that he had it. He then quietly released Gaossmon.

"Gaossmon" Kiriha whispered as quietly as he could, moving his body so that DarkKnightmon couldn't see the little blue lizard. "Help us dig, but be really quiet!"

Gaossmon nodded and quietly walked over to Zenjirou, Kiriha helping him stay hidden. The two boys blocked the Digimon's body and it used its mouth to continue the digging where Zenjirou had left off. It spat the dirt back out behind them, and very quickly they had formed a large enough hole for the two boys to jump down into.

"Wait, Gaossmon!" Kiriha whispered to his Digimon as he landed on top of the dirt, glancing over at Zenjirou. "We should go up through the wall and end up on top of the cage. That way we can destroy the switch instead. I mean, we have no idea how long we'll dig before we find a way out... I say we just cut off DarkKnightmon's main power over us."

"Right!" Zenjirou nodded, and the three of them headed outward. Their hole zigzagged so that the boys could climb upward along with Gaossmon, and before they knew it, they had broken a small tear through the side of the wall. In front of them was the switch, located above the cage. They could see DarkKnightmon through the crack they'd made and could reach a hand through it, but DarkKnightmon wouldn't be able to see them as easily.

The blonde boy decided that they should tear apart the wiring panel of the switch and try to simply turn it off. Doing that instead of cutting a wire or something would lower the chance of an alarm going off. Both boys thought hard on how to do this. Zenjirou eventually looked through the crack at the side of the switch and saw what appeared to be the main control panel for it. He reached out and pulled as hard as he could, and after a great amount of effort, it broke off.

Kiriha hid a smile at Zenjirou's clueless expression and went back down through the tunnel to get the girls, Gaossmon continuing to dig. DarkKnightmon, too busy torturing his two prisoners, did not see when Kiriha came back out through the hole in the floor.

Akari was hesitant to leave the Digimon but Nene assured her that they were using a back exit to rescue them. While Kiriha had gotten the girls, Zenjirou had managed to fiddle around with the control panel a bit more. He wasn't sure his meddling was doing any good until suddenly he noticed the Digimon's bindings break.

Cutemon wriggled out of the bindings and immediately ran to Dorulumon. Shoutmon followed this action, as did the other Digimon.

DarkKnightmon frowned, turning back to the cage to see the prisoners gone. At first the dark Digimon was furious, and he let out a growl of rage. However, within seconds a smirk formed on his face.

"Seems your friends left you to your luck." DarkKnightmon said, preparing to finish them all with a final blow. Shoutmon growled angrily, ready to attack, but a voice stopped him before he could act.

"Think again!" Came Nene's voice and all of the Generals, Taiki being supported by Akari and Kiriha now, while Nene and Zenjirou stood to the side. They all had dirt on their bodies, having clearly crawled as quickly as they could through the tunnels that Gaossmon had created. Now that DarkKnightmon looked closer, there was another hole in the floor off in a corner of the room that he'd had his back to. What frustrated him the most to see though, was Nene and Kiriha holding their X-Loaders in their hands.

"You may be smart, DarkKnightmon," Kiriha said with a smug tone of voice. "But you made one mistake; not double-checking whether you had all of the X-Loaders or not." The blonde's own partners now, no longer trapped by the bonds, stepped forward and got ready to charge.

"Greymon! MailBirdramon! Deckerdramon! DigiXros!" The blonde cried out and they combined to form DeckerGreymon, as Kiriha had decided that simply MetalGreymon would not be enough for this. He decided to keep Cyberdramon in the X-Loader for a back-up in case he needed it.

Kiriha faced off against DarkKnightmon, DeckerGreymon at his side. He was determined to get the others' X-Loaders back and hold this evil knight down, at least until the others had escaped. He could see the other Loaders in fact, but they were inside some kind of round container hanging on DarkKnightmon's side. It appeared to have an energy shield around it, and there was no way to get to them unless he could break the shield somehow.

Kiriha looked at DeckerGreymon, who glanced back over at him. Together they nodded, the same idea popping into both of their heads.

"Golemon, release!" Kiriha called out his fellow Blue Flare Digimon, the Golem running at DarkKnightmon. The evil knight easily lifted Golemon off of his feet and slammed him against the wall roughly, squeezing his neck hard. Golemon wouldn't last much longer, but he didn't need to.

"Plasma Deckerdra-Launcher!" A ball of plasma came out of DeckerGreymon's cannons, aiming straight for DarkKnightmon. The dark knight dropped Golemon quickly and tried to shift out of the way, but the attack was so fast that it still got his side and broke the shield around the Xros Loaders.

"Akari!" Kiriha hollered as he recalled quickly, pointing at the Xros Loaders on the ground. Akari, who was the closest to the fallen devices, took that moment to run forward and grab hers and Taiki's Xros Loaders. After that she threw Zenjirou's to him. The kendo-boy ran forward, catching it with both hands and then falling to his knees, tired from everything that had happened. Akari let out a gasp as DarkKnightmon lunged at her and shut her eyes, preparing for the impact, but nothing came. The redhead opened her eyes to see DeckerGreymon pulling him back and away from her.

"Everyone, get out of here!" Kiriha hollered to the others. "We'll catch up with you once we at least knock this guy out!" Nene frowned for a moment after hearing the blonde boy's words before shaking her head.

"No, Sparrowmon and I will stay and help you Kiriha. Zenjirou-kun, you and Akari must get Taiki out of here! Cutemon can heal him once you do." Nene said and Akari felt hesitant, but then glanced around and clenched her fists in determination.

"Fine, but if you guys aren't back in twenty minutes, Sheyanmon and I will come after you!" Akari said before turning to the Digimon and adding "Cutemon, Lunamon, Dorulumon, Shoutmon, Pickmonz you guys can rest in my X-Loader while Taiki recovers." The Digimon nodded and Akari held her X-Loader, reloading them in while Zenjirou loaded the rest.

As Akari and Zenjirou hauled their friend out with them, they saw DeckerGreymon get thrown back against a wall, but managed to get back up. The last thing they saw was Kiriha reload Cyberdramon to make sure they were able to get out alright.

Akari and Zenjirou, with Taiki being supported by both of them, ran as fast as they could through the cave tunnels. They were covered in dirt from head to toe and their breathing was harsh. After what felt like hours they managed to get out and back to the cave entrance where they had been taking refuge in. Akari reloaded the Digimon before turning to Cutemon. Zenjirou reloaded Beelzebumon and Ballistamon as well.

"Can you heal them?" The redhead asked her partner. Cutemon frowned, the injuries on Dorulumon, Beelzebumon and Taiki were tough but as he looked into Akari's eyes, he knew he would be able to do it. He started with Taiki, the wounds slowly healing up. His bruises started to disappear and his cuts closed up. After a while he stirred, opening his eyes.

"Thank goodness!" Both Akari and Zenjirou exclaimed in relief as Cutemon moved on to the two Digimon.

"Akari...Zenjirou...how did we get out? Dorulumon...Beelzebumon..." Taiki began, still feeling a little tired from the over-exertion. Akari touched his hand then gestured him to the two Digimon who were now being healed by Cutemon. The goggle-boy could have cried from the relief he felt. He had never felt so helpless in his life before, being forced to watch those he cared about being beaten and thrown around like worthless dolls.

Dorulumon gave a half-smile to Taiki.

"Are you all right, Taiki?" The wolf asked and Taiki nodded, who was suddenly overcome with emotion. The goggle-boy rushed to hug the wolf, tears tugging at his eyes. Dorulumon felt pink tinge his cheeks and was about to tell the other to get off, but upon seeing how upset he was, decided to take it for once.

"Dorulumon...I never want to feel like that again..." Taiki said his, his voice shaky, and he stayed like that for a few moments. The wolf couldn't think of any words to say, so he simply relaxed, feeling the other needed it right now. Luckily, Taiki quickly moved to do the same to Beelzebumon, who covered Taiki's back with his wing.

"You had us worried as well, Taiki. You almost died." Beelzebumon said and Dorulumon glanced at his General. He had been worried as well, Taiki nearly stressing himself to death as he seemed to do all the time. Shoutmon fidgeted slightly.

"Um...Dorulumon...Beelzebumon...I'm sorry, I wish I could have done more and..." The red dragon trailed off. Dorulumon, while still tired, walked over to Shoutmon and looked at him.

"You couldn't have done anything, you would've gotten hurt if you tried. Besides, this won't ever happen to us again." Dorulumon said firmly, causing all of the people and Digimon there to look at him. Beelzebumon was still holding onto Taiki, trying to keep the boy calm. However, he glanced at the Digimon curiously, getting a slight idea of what the other was talking about.

"What do you mean, Dorulumon-kyu?" Cutemon voiced what they were all thinking.

"When Shoutmon wanted to become stronger, Ballistamon and Beelzebumon helped him train so he could be strong enough to protect his people when he was king." Dorulumon began and noticed Shoutmon was eyeing him curiously, wondering why he had brought that up. "Isn't what we just went through a form of weakness and helplessness? We all wished we had been powerful enough to do something more, and we can make that happen, if we all work together."

Taiki looked at his partner and smiled. While he admitted the other had a point, did they really have the time to go out and train on their weak points? Not that it wasn't a good idea, since them getting killed wouldn't really help them reclaim the Digital World or make it a better place, but was it possible? Somehow, they had to try though. If they were weak enough right now to all be captured and tortured by their enemy, then they desperately needed to toughen up. He nodded in agreement with Dorulumon.

"Dorulumon's right. I never want to feel helpless like that again and I'm sure everyone else feels the same. No matter what it takes, we have to make ourselves stronger." Taiki said, glancing at each member but not moving away from Beelzebumon, wanting to be near his friend. Beelzebumon was like a fatherly figure to him while Dorulumon was like the protective, cool older brother. Shoutmon was like the younger brother he could have fun with but also scold when he was being too tactless.

Akari pumped a fist in the air.

"All right then! We'll show that DarkKnightmon what we're made of and that he can't just force us to do what he wants." The redhead said enthusiastically, trying to bring everyone into the fighting spirit. Zenjirou decided to help as well.

"Yeah, after all we are team Xros Heart!" Zenjirou exclaimed, nodding along and keeping his voice cheerful. Cutemon smiled happily, Lunamon gave a shy smile while Shoutmon gave a thumbs up to Akari and Zenjirou. Taiki gave a genuine smile, which comprised of both relief and happiness that everyone was all right. Then, something struck him and he frowned.

"Wait, where are Kiriha and Nene?" The goggle-boy asked and Akari sighed, but then gave a soft smile.

"Don't worry, they stayed back to keep DarkKnightmon at bay." Akari assured and when Taiki still looked worried he added "I promised that if they didn't come back in twenty minutes, I'd come after them with Sheyanmon."

Taiki finally nodded, slipping into a soft smile.

"Akari, Zenjirou...thanks. For not letting me come to the digital world alone." The gogglehead said softly, knowing that he would have been lost right now without them. Kiriha and Nene were great and he cared for them immensely, but they just weren't the same to him as Akari and Zenjirou were.

The other two Generals smiled.

"We're part of Xros Heart too, Taiki. We're a team." Akari told him with Zenjirou nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, plus the Digimon and the digital world have given me something to fight for." Zenjirou responded to both Taiki and Akari's statements while glancing at Kotemon and Dracomon. He held great admiration for his partners, having gone through so much and having held their ground. They would get through this, no matter what.

All they could really hope for now was that before fifteen more minutes had passed, five having already gone by, their allies would return with DarkKnightmon defeated. Otherwise they were going to storm in there and blow DarkKnightmon straight to Hell.


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N:_**_ Hi, everyone! I would like to say I am so sorry for such delay! If you're a University student or even still in school, you probably understand being overloaded with assignments and studying. That, and my computer crashed, so I lost the chapter and had to start over. I hope I made this chapter worth the wait for you all!_

_Also, there is a reason the battle of Kiriha and Nene isn't shown, and it will be a plot point later._

**Chapter 8: Divided We Fall**

Kiriha, Nene, and their Digimon managed to escape the fierce battle in one piece and return to the others. After a good night's rest, Kiriha suggested they move to the next Zone.

"But how are we going to do that? I mean, don't we need to defeat Dorbickmon first?" Akari asked curiously, tilting her head to the side and letting her eyes meet Taiki's.

"The Code Crowns are what allow us to travel between Zones, but..." Taiki trailed off, looking over at Kiriha and Nene. "I'm assuming it isn't the same as before, so what's changed? What do we do?"

Kiriha explained that they'd have to trek to a flag which acted as a portal to the next Zone.

"But there are still Digimon who need our help! Shouldn't we fix things _here _before moving on?" the redhead pointed out. Taiki's face fell, and she could tell that he was at a loss for where to turn.

Kiriha spoke up again, sounding colder than usual. They were just sitting around doing _nothing_! "If we stay here, DarkKnightmon will come after us."

He crossed his arms in annoyance, even going so far as to shake off Nene's hand when she touched his shoulder.

"Taiki-kun, we can come back here after we settle things in the next Zone," the purple-clad girl reasoned. The boy knew she had a point, but for some reason, he had a sinking feeling that things were going to go horribly wrong again. Still, he knew Kiriha also had a good point.

"All right," he concedes softly, "but we need to come back here! I don't like the thought of turning my back on those of us that are here, but I know we won't be able to help anyone if we're captured ourselves." He turned to his own partners. "Beelzebumon, Dorulumon, you guys need to rest." He reloaded them into the X-Loader, and then proceeded to load the others as well. At Akari's questioning look, he explained, "The Digimon can't travel freely between the Zones. This is the only way they'll be able to go with us."

The girl nodded and followed suit, Kiriha and Nene already having done so. Walking out of the cave together as one small group of kids-adults, they made the long, sometimes rough journey to the portal.

The same thought ran through everyone's mind (minus Kiriha) as they stepped into it. They had been forced to leave this Zone without completing the job; how badly would things go in the next? The Digital World was so different now, and a part of Taiki knew that they would eventually need to change tactics in order to gain the upper hand.

The instant they arrived at their destination, Akari screamed and latched onto Taiki's waist. The gogglehead stared at her, confused, until he saw the clouds surrounding them and realized the portal had literally left them hanging in mid-air.

"Zenjirou?" The green-clad boy glanced at Taiki curiously, having never noticed where they were. His friend-rival was grateful for that, however, because he'd just remembered his friend was terrified of heights. "Whatever you do, don't look down."

He inwardly groaned when Zenjirou did just that. It got even worse when they began to fall, what with his screaming and Nene trying in vain to calm him down. Kiriha, ever the calm one, released his partners and landed neatly on MailBirdramon's back while Cyberdramon gathered Nene and Zenjirou. Taiki released Beelzebumon, despite Akari and Shoutmon holding on to him.

"Beelzebumon, I know you're still injured, but can you get us to safety?" Taiki shouted and was instantly relieved when the Digimon managed to grab all three of them with his remaining arm.

Soon, they were all safely on the ground—or at least, what was _meant _to be the ground, for every building was floating in the sky, and the only things at the children's feet were the earth and the plants! Shuddering slightly, Akari finally let go of Taiki and looked around.

"Can we get going already?" Kiriha growled edgily. Taiki's eyes snapped to him in surprise, but the blond wasn't looking his way.

"But go where?" Nene asked, frowning. She was concerned, not only about what had happened to this place, but for the Digimon that had probably resided here.

"She has a point. Where _can_ we go?" Akari inquired. "What Zone did this _used_ to be?"

"This was once the Sweets Zone," Wisemon explained from Taiki's X-Loader. Nene gasped.

"_S-Sweets_ _Zone_?" Akari sputtered. This was such a shock! This Zone held the dear memory of when they'd all worked together to make the sweet potato cake, and now it looked ten times worse than her burnt dessert! It was horrifying!

Zenjirou was in shock, too. This had always been the most lighthearted of all the Zones, and to see it such a mess was upsetting. It was crazy how much the Code Crowns had shifted the odds into the Bugra Army's favour.

Taiki, meanwhile, thought about the Digimon friends they'd made here. Cutemon's parents had been here as well, but who knew how they were now?

However, the trio did not have more time to ponder this as a group of LadyDevimon appeared. The others moved to fight them off, but Taiki's vision blurred without warning and his stomach churned violently. He swayed dangerously and felt Beelzebumon's arm wrap securely around his shoulders. He could almost see it in his head, DarkKnightmon beating Dorulumon and Beelzebumon, and all he could do was watch helplessly…

"Taiki, _snap_ out of it!" Shoutmon called, and the thirteen-year-old looked up to see Akari running over to him. She and Shoutmon eyed him worriedly, and if he'd been able to see Beelzebumon's expression, he would have seen the demon lord's anxiety.

"Taiki, Sheyanmon and Kanjorimon need you! Sparrowmon needs you for DigiXrossing! We can't do this alone!" the redhead cried desperately, pleading with her best friend. She couldn't understand why he'd frozen if the Digimon were doing all right so far.

Taiki frowned, but pushed aside his doubts, knowing he couldn't turn his back on his friends despite being afraid for one of the few times since entering the Digital World. He released his Digimon and allowed them to form Shoutmon X5B, but turned away because he didn't have the confidence to face this right now.

Beelzebumon had already lost an arm, and that wouldn't regenerate for a while... Dorulumon was still exhausted from the beating he'd taken earlier. Had he made the right decision in letting them fight?

Akari glanced over at Taiki, concerned. Ever since he had witnessed his two partners' almost-demise, he had been different. Usually _he_ would be the one to lead them into battle, but for a while now he had refused to give orders and strictly listened. If he were acting like his normal self at all, Akari was certain he would have protested this whole 'new Zone before old' plan much more.

Her attention shifted as one of the LadyDevimon attacked Sheyanmon. Her eyes widened.

"Watch out!" the redhead yelled, and her Digimon barely managed to dodge.

Immediately afterward, a beam was launched at Shoutmon X5B, effectively scaring Taiki out of his thoughts. He ran forward and jumped on MetalGreymon's back as he launched an assault, redirecting his flame to hit Shoutmon X5B and destroy the beam. The smaller Digimon dedigivolved, and MetalGreymon and Taiki were thrown back when LadyDevimon attacked.

At this same moment, the enemy ceased fighting and turned tail for no identifiable reason. All of Taiki's partners and friends might have thought this strange if they hadn't been so terrified for his safety and rushed over to him.

"What on Earth were you trying to do?!" Kiriha yelled, storming forward as Nene rushed up beside him.

"The attack c-could have…hurt S-Shoutmon…X5B…" Taiki defended breathlessly, glaring at an unfazed Kiriha as Akari helped him to his feet.

"Your soft heart will get us all _killed_ someday," Kiriha stated coldly before reloading his Digimon. "If we expect to win, we can't afford to put our hearts on the line. Anyone who agrees with me, come along. I'm not staying here any longer."

"At least Taiki cares for others besides himself! _You_ only care about what happens to you!" Akari retorted hotly.

Her best friend touched her shoulder and shook his head, fixing his grey eyes on the blond.

"We are Xros _Heart_ for a reason," the goggleheaded leader told him quietly, calmly. "_Please_ understand, Kiriha. Beelzebumon and Dorulumon aren't fully healed, and I'm afraid I'll lose them if I put them under too much duress too soon."

The two in question exchanged glances. They hadn't realised what an effect their torture had had on Taiki. Unfortunately, since neither was accustomed to dealing with emotional moments, both were at a loss for what to say.

Luckily, they were saved when Cutemon jumped into Taiki's arms.

"Don't worry, _kyu_!" the little creature encouraged enthusiastically. "I was worried about Dorulumon, too! We understand why you did what you did, _kyu!_"

Taiki smiled at him while his present rival scoffed and began walking in the other direction. The younger General opened his mouth to call out to him, but Nene intervened.

"Don't worry. I'll go after Kiriha-kun so he isn't _completely_ alone." Reloading Sparrowmon, she winks reassuringly at the group before hurrying after Kiriha.

Zenjirou huffed. "I don't see why she has to go after _him_."

Taiki watched them both go, still anxious, but ultimately let everything go in a cleansing sigh. He offered his friends a half-hearted smile. "Well, looks like it'll be back to just the three of us for a while."

"Just like old times!" Akari cheered. She could only hope everyone's spirits would rise soon.


End file.
